Carrickfergus seafront repair work scheduled

King William III Pier has been monitored for movement which resulted in the structure at the harbour being fenced off and boat owners forbidden from tethering vessels to the historic pier in a bid to reduce further movement. Click here

Work has now been completed on the harbour’s radar tower which required “quite extensive scaffolding and a temporary bridge over the culvert” on the pier.

Work to infill the culvert was scheduled to commence on January 20.

The location is where King William III landed and where a re-enactment takes place every year. The 329th Royal Landing anniversary pageant attracted a crowd of 15,000 to Carrickfergus in 2019.

The event was unable to take place this year due to Covid restrictions.

Meanwhile, work has started to remove broken concrete slats of the beach groynes. This has resulted in 40 tonnes of concrete being removed.

Councillors will also have to decide whether to repair or fully replace loose and broken groynes along Carrick’s seafront promenade.

The cost of this project would amount to £0.5m to “replace like with like”.

Recently, the council’s Harbours and Marinas Committee suggested the council should engage with the Department for Infrastructure and Crown Estates which owns the groynes which are in place “to protect the road”.

The council is awaiting design and costs for new concrete uprights to hold the original slats and is currently in discussions with NIEA which is seeking a marine survey.

Meanwhile, the refurbishment of Westgate Bridge at Carrickfergus Marina is preparing to go out to tender and the repair of footpath paving at the marina has been completed.

A report on plans for new lighting for Marine Highway is expected to be brought to a meeting of the borough council in February.

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter

--

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. Please consider purchasing a copy of the paper. You can also support trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription of the News Letter.