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Rocquaine slipway bears brunt of weekend swells

A ROCQUAINE slipway has been badly damaged during gale force winds at the weekend.

(Picture by Peter Frankland, 24103326)
(Picture by Peter Frankland, 24103326) / Guernsey Press

Big swells battered the coastline, and winds reached gale force 8 on Sunday.

The cobbled slipway at Route du Port, just north of Fort Grey, bore the brunt of it.

(Picture by Peter Frankland, 24103317)
(Picture by Peter Frankland, 24103317) / Guernsey Press

Agriculture, Countryside and Land Management Services staff and engineers from the States’ Property Services have been assessing the situation.

Jan Dockerill from ACLMS said the next steps were to stabilise the slipway.

‘Very soon, over the next few tides and then we’ll look to do full-scale repair and the best way to do this,’ she said.

Ms Dockerill said they were told of the damage on Sunday lunchtime and an engineer from the States Property Services was called out that afternoon to assess the damage.

Part of the slipway on Route Du Port, Rocquaine has collapsed. An engineer from States Property Services assesses the damage. (24103296)
Part of the slipway on Route Du Port, Rocquaine has collapsed. An engineer from States Property Services assesses the damage. (24103296) / Guernsey Press

‘Tides are very strong, these things happen from time to time,’ she said.

Engineers were carrying out an assessment of the damage yesterday and said that they expect the hole, which is currently around 12 by eight metres in size, to increase as the tide comes back in.

‘Just yesterday afternoon, at a similar sort of time to now [about 2pm], about a third of this was in place,’ said one engineer.

Part of the slipway on Route Du Port, Rocquaine has collapsed. Pictured is Jan Dockerill from Agriculture, Countryside and Land Management Services. (24103313)
Part of the slipway on Route Du Port, Rocquaine has collapsed. Pictured is Jan Dockerill from Agriculture, Countryside and Land Management Services. (24103313) / Guernsey Press

They said that the reason for the quick loss of even more of the slipway was that there was not a great deal of substance supporting it.

The slipway is closed while work on the damage is underway.

ACLMS have said that they welcome reports from islanders who spot any damage on Guernsey beaches. Its email address is aclms@gov.gg.

Signs went up after part of the slipway collapsed. (24103330)
Signs went up after part of the slipway collapsed. (24103330) / Guernsey Press

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