Dawlish underpass shut for railway sea wall work

The underpass in Dawlish is being shut to build foundations for a new bridge

An underpass in a Devon town has been closed for work on a sea wall to protect a railway line from storms and rising sea levels, engineers have said.

The Colonnade underpass in Dawlish was being shut for up to 12 weeks to build foundations for a new bridge, Network Rail said.

Access to the beach and promenade would be limited over the summer.

Bosses said it was also part of the final phase of construction of a sea wall which would protect the town too.

'No good time'

Network Rail said safety was its priority and the closure was needed because engineers would be operating large and heavy machinery to install 66ft (20m) long foundations.

It added "every effort will be made to complete this work sooner".

Rob Breckon, of the rail track operator, said it was realised "there was no good time" to do work, particularly during the summer.

But he added that delaying it until after summer was not possible due to the extreme weather the local coastline could experience.

The sea defences at Dawlish were destroyed in 2014 and the line was closed for six weeks

The new bridge will connect the two sections of a new accessible public promenade and house a culvert to allow the Dawlish Water stream to flow into the sea, managers said.

The work is being carried out after the track was washed away by the sea when it was hit by huge waves.

Most of Devon and Cornwall was without a railway line to the rest of the country for several weeks after the storm between 4 and 5 February 2014.

Network Rail said the entire £80m line protection scheme was due to be completed in 2023 and would protect the railway for 100 years.