Van Oord has signed a contract with the Environment Agency to design and build a coastal defence scheme at Lydd, south Kent coast in the UK. Van Oord will work in partnership with its subsidiary Mackley to deliver the scheme. Once completed it will help to protect this environmentally important area and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Lydd firing range from ongoing storm damage and coastal erosion for 25 years. Design work is currently underway and construction is due to commence in April.

The contract encompasses 320,000 cubic metres of shingle beach nourishment, the construction of 34 timber groynes, rock armour protection and other flood risk management related asset improvement and replacement works. The beach nourishment operation is scheduled for summer 2022, once the timber groynes have been completed. A trailing suction hopper dredger will be deployed for this part of the execution.

The coastal defence project at Lydd forms part of a much larger coastal defence scheme to better protect the low-lying Romney Marsh area, a large section of the Kent coastline. It provides protection to some 14,500 homes, 700 businesses and nationally important critical infrastructure that is at risk from coastal flooding. Van Oord have been involved with many of the stages of the work having already completed schemes at Dymchurch, Hythe Ranges and the adjacent Broomhill Sands.