Alderney breakwater ‘still vulnerable 30 years on’
THE Alderney breakwater ‘remains vulnerable’ despite the £23m. Guernsey has spent maintaining it in the last thirty years, according to the president of Environment & Infrastructure.
Deputy Brehaut said the future of the breakwater had to be handled sensitively. However, a long-term strategy is needed that is more than just ongoing repairs.
In many ways, he said the breakwater is a ‘metaphor for the protection that Guernsey provides Alderney’.
‘[The level of investment] does seem to be something of a folly, but to the people who live and work in the bay it provides them with protection.’
In powerful storms the breakwater is vulnerable to significant damage and in its current state it would be ‘difficult for someone to invest in’.
‘The last time an option was put forward it cost £26m. to demolish part of the breakwater, shorten it and strengthen what was left,’ said Deputy Brehaut.
