constructing the colwyn bay waterfront project … · #08 | porth eirias | colwyn bay waterfront...

COASTAL DEFENCE & REGENERAT ION

CONWY COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL

COLWYN BAYWATERFRONT

PROJECT

CONSTRUCTING THE

This innovative project has, over the space of three years, brought together heavy engineering work, attractive public realm designs and a new beach to create a visitor destination, which at its heart protects Colwyn Bay from the threat of the sea.

This brochure sets out the journey taken by Conwy County Borough Council in developing and delivering the Colwyn Bay Waterfront Project, culminating in the opening of the flagship development, Porth Eirias.

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THE COLWYN BAY WATERFRONT PROJECT BRINGS TOGETHER COASTAL PROTECTION AND SEAFRONT REGENERATION TO SAFEGUARD THIS ONCE POPULAR COASTAL RESORT FROM THE THREAT OF THE SEA AND PROVIDE THE FACILITIES THE TOWN NEEDS TO REGAIN ITS HEYDAY SUCCESS.

INTRODUCTION

COLWYN BAY PROMENADE -

“A DIGNIFIED SEAFRONT CURVING WITH UNINTERRUPTED GRACE FOR OVER TWO-AND-A-HALF MILES”.NORMAN TUCKER: 1894 - 1971

For many decades, Colwyn

Bay’s promenade was a

popular leisure destination

for both residents and

visitors. The town itself

originated in the 19th

century; growing quickly

in size in response to the

popularity of the British

seaside resort as a desirable

holiday destination.

When Colwyn Bay’s Victoria Pier opened in 1900, it was not only regarded as an architectural triumph but it also added commercial value to the town, and by 1905 became a leisure destination in its own right.

In 1905 the work on the promenade was complete and the town thrived as holiday makers looked to escape the smog of Britain’s large industrial cities.

Later, during WWII, the seafront was in regular use, not only by residents, but also by thousands of civil servants who came to the town when the Ministry of Food was moved to Colwyn Bay.

There were dances, concerts and theatrical productions during the war years and beyond, and the pier and promenade remained a leisure destination well into the 1970s.

Over the past 30 years, however, the promenade has suffered a significant decline both structurally and in its ability to attract visitors; the local economy has seen a downturn and the town itself has become less appealing to holiday makers.

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In 1880 when Miss Wenn and Miss Martin, with twelve girls in attendance, opened Penrhos girls school, they opened the front door of the school onto The Promenade. This was the first piece of man made walkway along the sea shore and ran from Gilbertville (where the school was housed) at the bottom end of Penrhos Avenue to the Colwyn Bay Hotel (now Princess Court).

The second bit of the promenade to be constructed was that to which the Victoria Pier is attached. When the nave of St. Pauls Church was being built in 1888 the workmen moved the earth from the foundation trench on hand carts and trundled it and dumped it on the slope leading to the beach beside the railway station. This rubble was the bed rock used to build the part of the promenade that led up into the town.

MEMORIES OF THE PROM

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HISTORY

Colwyn Bay’s promenade

had, for a long time,

suffered a decline –

both structurally and

aesthetically – and was no

longer attracting visitors

to the town or coast.

Coupled with the town’s

deteriorating coastal

defences, the decline in

popularity had impacted

significantly on the town’s

economic viability.

SHOWING ITS AGE

The town’s Victorian sea wall was subject to years of ongoing deterioration; with storm damage affecting the road, the cycletrack and the nearby railway. In 2010, a section of the sea wall was undermined and was at risk of collapse. It became clear that if the deterioration was not stopped once and for all, further serious damage would be caused behind the defences with a risk of the sea wall failing and posing a major threat to the town and its infrastructure. This highlighted the urgency for the project to begin, with the coastal defence works needing to take place before any improvement works could be considered to the promenade.


IDENTIFYING A NEED FOR THE COLWYN BAY WATERFRONT PROJECT

ADDRESSING ENVIRONMENTALPROBLEMS

WHY

LOWERING BEACH LEVELS

Over the years, the beach level at Colwyn Bay has lowered due to longshore drift washing away large amounts of sand. This has been the catalyst of the serious problems faced by the sea defence wall, with the sand on the beach historically acting as the barrier protecting the structure from the devastating effects of the sea.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Large waves overtopping the sea wall in Colwyn Bay had become a regular image along the seafront, causing the road to be closed frequently and proving a continual maintenance burden for Conwy County Borough Council.

Climate change poses new challenges with the risk of rising sea levels and the likelihood of more intense patterns of weather conditions likely to result in more frequent and harder hitting storms. Without action, Colwyn Bay’s promenade would have become more and more vulnerable, risking the future existence of the town.

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Historically, the sea wall

had the protection of a

high beach, keeping the

damaging sea away from

impacting against the wall.

Following several damaging storm events resulting in costly emergency repair works, it became clear that a permanent solution was needed to secure the long term protection of Colwyn Bay. Therefore, between 2008 and 2010, an extensive coastal modelling study was undertaken to look at different options for new coastal defence structures. The work involved both physical and numerical modelling techniques.

Physical models (at 1 to 20 scale) of different forms of rock defences were used to assess the behaviour of a range of different sizes of structures. The study used wave data measured in Colwyn Bay to replicate real life sea conditions found at the seafront in a 50m flume. Volumes of water overtopping the model structures were used to assess the performance of the different options as well as record the stability of the structures during modelled storm events.

Powerful computers were used to develop models of Colwyn Bay’s seashore that had the ability to predict the

movement of sand on the beach under varying sea conditions. The models used survey and wave data from Colwyn Bay beach, and looked at how a recharged beach would perform under short term events (using real sea data from the 1990 storms) and also over a longer period of longshore drift. The models were then able to predict how different control structures could influence the longevity of a recharged sandy beach.

Coastal modelling techniques identified a preferred form of coastal defence along Colwyn Bay’s coastal frontage. To the west, a recharged sand beach was the preferred

form, using rock control structures to increase the beach’s sustainability. To the east, where storms hit the bay that much harder (making a sandy beach an unviable coastal defence option) a rock revetment built against and over the sea wall was the chosen option.

The need to regenerate the promenade was as much a key driver to the Colwyn Bay Waterfront Project as the need for improved coastal protection, therefore an innovative approach of integrating a coastal protection project with regeneration works was adopted.

COASTAL DEFENCE STRATEGYCOLWYN BAY’S HISTORIC COASTAL DEFENCES COMPRISED A MASONRY SEA WALL CONSTRUCTED PREDOMINANTLY DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA, WITH VARIOUS LATER INTERVENTIONS AND ADAPTATIONS.

FACTS & FIGURES 66 people employed on site during the works

60,000 tonnes of rock armour

Over 100,000 tonnes of imported fill

1,300 tonnes of steel

14,700 tonnes of concrete

Over 8,000 lorry deliveries to the site

10,600 square metres of “blank canvas” developed to build Porth Eirias

PHASE 1AENGINEERING WORKSCONSTRUCTION OF THE PHASE 1A ENGINEERING WORKS STARTED ON SITE IN FEBRUARY 2011


In early 2011, a competition was held by Conwy County Borough Council to find a suitable team of designers to prepare and develop proposals for a watersports hotspot, to be built on top of the platform created by the earlier phase of engineering works. The development was later named Porth Eirias.

Construction of Porth Eirias started

on site in March 2012.


The sand was recovered

from the sea bed 20 miles

north of Colwyn Bay by a

dredger, which sailed to

Colwyn Bay and pumped

the material ashore through

a mile long pipeline.

On average, 20,000 tonnes of sand were pumped per day on to the beach over a four week period.

Not only will the new beach form a barrier to keep the sea away from the sea wall, thereby decreasing Colwyn Bay’s susceptibility to erosion and flooding; but also, the new beach provides an excellent new amenity available at all states of the tide.


TO RECHARGE THE BEACH TO THE WEST OF THE NEW ROCK GROYNE OVER 500,000 TONNES OF SAND MATERIAL WAS PUMPED ONTO THE BEACH AT COLWYN BAY DURING EARLY 2013.

SAND IMPORTATION

PROCESSESThe Colwyn Bay Waterfront Project is designed to be largely beneficial to coastal processes in the area as it will improve the local sand movement regime, minimising erosion of the new beach whilst maintaining a supply of sediment to beaches to the east of Colwyn Bay.

ECOLOGYThe new groyne creates habitat for various marine species. In 2011, Conwy County Borough Council worked with Bangor University to develop and install a “bio-block” within the new rock groyne, an innovative structure designed to create habitat for a diverse range of marine creatures.

LANDSCAPEThe new beach has a positive visual impact on the town’s promenade, recreating the town’s open, healthy amenity beach as enjoyed during the town’s heyday.

PORTH EIRIASPorth Eirias achieves the highest environmental performance through measures such as power generation from the site’s two vertical axis wind turbines. In the winter, the building benefits from a thick layer of dense polystyrene insulation with combined heat and power engines to warm the inside. In summer, automatic windows ensure a plentiful supply of fresh air throughout the building.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS


THE COLWYN BAY WATERFRONT PROJECT STRIVES TO ACHIEVE THE HIGHEST ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE AND MAXIMISE THE BENEFITS TO THE SEAFRONT.

GAINING SUPPORTPart of the challenge at the start of the project was to gain support for the proposals from both stakeholders and the public. A substantial amount of work has been put into gaining this support over the recent years, through exhibitions, presentations and over 100 public and stakeholder site visits. Additionally, project leaflets, promotional DVDs and a website have been produced to provide updated information, with public liaison cabins provided on site to disseminate information throughout the construction period.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

SCHOOLS & PORTH EIRIASIn addition to public and stakeholder consultations, a large amount of work has been done to engage local schools with the project; with activities ranging from site visits and presentations to a poster design competition and the burial of a time capsule. Not only has the involvement of local schools raised awareness of the Project at a community level, it has also provided children and their families with a link to Porth Eirias for the future.


EVENTS AT PORTH EIRIASWITH ITS CONFERENCE, EDUCATION AND OUTDOOR EVENTS FACILITIES, IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT PORTH EIRIAS WILL ATTRACT EVENT BOOKINGS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

Confirmed events include Prom Xtra and the Eirias Triathlon, both of which are existing events that have moved location to take advantage of the facilities at Porth Eirias. The goal for the future is that, as well as providing a great destination for a family day out on the beach, Porth Eirias will attract a variety of events, which will benefit local businesses and the wider community.


WHY VISITPORTH EIRIAS


PLAY EQUIPMENTGLASS ROOFSLIPWAYCAFÉ / BISTRO (COMING SOON)

SAILING SCHOOLCHANGING ROOMSACCESS FOR ALL

The Colwyn Bay Waterfront Project was funded by Welsh Government and the European Regional Development Fund

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constructing the colwyn bay waterfront project … · #08 | porth eirias | colwyn bay waterfront...

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