‘Another big storm could be catastrophic for Rousse Pier’
A STORM-battered pier in Vale is in need of a improvements after the last big storm from the north-east dislodged large stones. Now, daily high tides are washing more and more grouting out of the foundations.
Rousse Pier is a popular spot for year-round swimmers and boaters, which is why the Rousse Mooring Committee has issued a warning about the pier’s dangerous condition.
At the start of the week, the Vale douzaine reported the issue to the States Agriculture, Countryside and Land Management Services – an operational service area falling under the remit of the Environment & Infrastructure.
Vale senior constable Richard Leale said the States was responsible for the pier’s maintenance and upkeep.
The parish, he said, has no power to repair or alter the environment.
Now that the issue has been reported, Mr Leale said the matter was out of the douzaine’s hands.
ACLMS confirmed that the pier was damaged during a storm at the end of November, and it said that stabilisation works were carried out at the start of December to prevent the edge stones from breaking away.
‘We plan to carry out further repairs at the very next spring tide, which will allow enough time for the repairs to be made and materials to set,’ ACLMS said.
Rodney Norman and Darren Mann, special constables for the Rousse Mooring Committee, understand that slipways and piers across the island are in need of repairs, but they emphasised the importance of dealing with Rousse Pier’s structural issues now before they become worse.
‘Nothing has been done here in a long time aside from some surface capping last year,’ said Mr Norman.
‘Once one stone gets loose, the rest start to go as well, as you can see.
‘More of the substrate underneath the foundations is being washed out as well. I think another strong north-easter would be catastrophic.’
Junior constable Bill Cohu is not an engineer, but believed that repairing the pier properly would require an element of deconstruction and reassembly.
However, he acknowledged the plans and timeline all depend on States engineers.
Mr Leale acknowledged that the States is under a lot of pressure to maintain all of the structures and sights around Guernsey, and he said officers need an opportunity to look at the pier for themselves before deciding on a course of action.
However, be believed the pier to ‘be another case of timely and early repair intervention saving much bigger problems later.’
