Weymouth Harbour works delayed for holiday season

The works, at the pavilion end of the harbour, will involve building a line of new sheet steel piles, driven into the harbour bed

Repair works to crumbling harbour walls in Weymouth have been delayed until next autumn.

The project at Nelson's Wharf and the Ferry Steps had been expected to start in March and end in June.

Works will now start at the end of next September to avoid holiday season disruption, the Harbour Management Board has said.

Part of the scheme will involve driving piles into the ground, which will be heard, and felt, in nearby buildings.

The works, at the pavilion end of the harbour, will also lead to some road closures, the Local Democracy Reporting Service has said.

'Hydraulic vibrating'

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council has said the section of wall, made of sheet steel in 1960, is badly corroded and at risk of collapse with "localised loss of limestone fill material".

The work will involve building a line of new sheet steel piles, driven into the harbour bed.

A previous council report on the engineering proposals said: "In the prevalent ground conditions it is unlikely that piles of the required size can be driven by "quiet" methods, using hydraulic rams to push them in, so the piles will probably be driven initially by a hydraulic vibrating hammer and then, when necessary, by hydraulic impact hammer."

A report to harbour management board members said that the original proposal would have been disruptive to the local holiday trade and harbour operations.