Cliff stabilisation is three-quarters of work on Cow’s Horn steps
Big steps forward have been made on work to repair the link between La Vallette and the cliff path around the east coast.
The Clarence Battery steps were swept away in a landslip four years ago after heavy rainfall.
Repairs were delayed by Covid and difficulties finding a specialist contractor, but local company NSP Foundations started work recently, and a relatively dry March has allowed them to make speedy progress.
As well as replacing the damaged steps, they are stabilising the surrounding rock face.
‘Geotechnical consultants identified that parts of the cliff face around the steps also needed work and NSP are renewing the site as part of a package of works to safeguard the future of the area,’ said States infrastructure officer Marco Tersigni.
‘Three-quarters of the work is the stabilisation of the cliff face. The last quarter is remodelling the steps.’
Work started in spring to avoid the worst of the winter weather and potential delays at the exposed site.
‘The first day we had horizontal rain and we wondered what we had let ourselves in for. But we kept our fingers crossed and the weather has not been so bad since,’ said NSP managing director Jon Greenfield.
‘It’s not a run of the mill job, but this is the sort of jobs we do. The challenge on this job is the height we are working at.’
Over the past month, specialist cranes on hire from the UK have been used to allow workmen to drill and pin bolts, some as deep as six metres, into the rockface, before the addition of a top sheet of galvanised steel mesh, and then finally a technical mat.
‘The mat will allow the vegetation to grow through,’ said Mr Greenfield.
‘At the moment, it does not look that attractive, but within a couple of years everything will grow back and you will never know it was there.’
Once the cliffs have been stabilised, work will pick up on the concrete steps before a stainless steel handrail is added to replace the collapsed wall.
When the wall collapsed, a Second World War marker indicating the site was once a minefield was nearly lost with it.
Fortunately, it was recovered from the debris, and there are plans to restore to its original position.
‘It sparked a few conversations about the site’s prior uses,’ said Mr Greenfield.
‘The police actually came in to do a talk to all the staff just in case we found anything in terms of ordnance but so far it hasn’t been a problem.’
The steps, which lead to the Cow’s Horn, are currently on schedule to reopen towards the end of the summer.
‘We hope to be finished by the end of September. The unexpected need to underpin the remaining walls has delayed us slightly,’ he said.
‘On any job like this there will be issues you uncover and this was one such example.’
