Rock armour installed to protect airport from sea
Rock armour has been installed near Stornoway Airport's runway
At a glance
A £5.3m project to protect a Hebridean airport from coastal erosion has been completed
Rock armour involving 36,000 tonnes of stone has been installed near Stornoway Airport
The owners of the airport in Lewis said the runway was at risk of flooding during storms
Construction took 16 months to complete
- Published
Thousands of tonnes of rock have been installed at a Scottish island airport to protect it from coastal erosion.
The protection, called rock armour, has been placed near Stornoway Airport's runway where it is closest to the sea.
Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd's (Hial) £5.3m project involves a total of 36,000 tonnes of rock along a three-quarter-mile stretch of shore between the villages of Branahuie and Melbost in Lewis.
Parts of Lewis are vulnerable to coastal erosion, including at Bragar on the west coast where the sea has caused damage near a historic graveyard.
Hial said Stornoway Airport's airfield and taxiway were at risk of flooding during severe weather and storms.
A feature of the protection is 2,081 large wire mesh baskets filled with a total of almost 22,000 tonnes of rock.
Public consultation was held on the project ahead of 16 months of construction work.
Duncan Smith, of Hial, said: “When we noticed that coastal erosion was becoming a significant issue on the north-east quartile of the beach next to the airport, plans were swiftly put in place to restore the coastal defences and maintain airport infrastructure which would all have been at risk if the work had not been carried out.”
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