Beccles Maintenance Dredging
Beccles Fenland Charity Trust and Exo Environmental have been working on maintenance dredging plans for the past year, including surveys, permits, licences and tender documents. We were therefore delighted that the contractor mobilised to site early November to undertake the de-silting works. We anticipate that the contract will be completed by late November.
The site consisted of a boat dyke and main drain, connected to the river Waveney, that required dredging in order to remove the accumulated fine sediment and organic matter. The boat dyke is located to the east of Beccles Yacht Station and to the South of Beccles Park.
The contractor (Miles Water Engineering – https://www.miles-water.com/) utilised a long reach 22-ton excavator to de-silt the boat dyke under a D1 Exemption and Marine Licence. The sediment was deposited in dewatering lagoons for the excess water to drain. The dewatered sediment was subsequently transported by 6 wheeled Hydrema dumper to a reuse site under a SR2010 No. 4 land spreading licence for the improvement of land that has been subject to man-made development (e.g., landfill).
The receiving site was previously used as a landfill and has since been capped and used as a park. However, due to subsidence of the subsoil, the parkland has developed some significant dips, where flood water or rainwater sits for prolonged periods in stagnant pools. The dips will be filled in with the arising sediment, fenced off and left until early spring, after which a wildflower sward will be sown to attract more wildlife and improve the aesthetics of the grass sward. The Emorsgate EM10 Tussock mixture has been selected for this purpose and we cannot wait until summer to enjoy the spectacle of wildflowers and tussock grasses.
Exo Environmental carried out the on-site monitoring, involving oxygen readings of the water course, WAMITAB site supervision, and bathymetric survey to ascertain the dredging specification.
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