THE SOUTH COAST BOARDWALK will be getting a $60 000 plus facelift in the coming weeks.
Almost four years after it was built, the walkway which links stretches of beach and provides a place for relaxation and recreational pursuits will have its build-up of sand removed.
This was revealed by Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU) head Dr Leo Brewster, who was speaking at the unit’s Sundown Beach Walk last weekend.
He explained that stretches of the boardwalk were at least four years old, while others were about two.
Brewster said no maintenance had been done because the unit wanted to “get a feel as to how long it would take to get really bad”.
“It does not make sense going in and doing work when there is no need to do it; so we’ve let it run its natural course for the first three to five years to determine when is the worst-case scenario and this is the time that we have to go in,” he explained.
He said work should start by mid-August with the regrading of sand in the built-up area.
The contractor had been identified and the unit was just waiting on Cabinet’s approval.
Brewster noted that this time of year was the nesting season for turtles but the CZMU had been in discussion with the Barbados Sea Turtle Project to identify where nests were located.
“They are going to systematically start to take them and, having marked the areas, we will know which areas are clear and start to take out the sand and take it down,” he said.
More extensive work to the boardwalk is slated for November, prior to the start of the winter tourist season.
“When we were walking you would have seen there were certain areas of the boardwalk where the sand is actually up to the top of the boards,” he told the walkers.
“That poses a problem because under the boardwalk is drainage stone, which is to allow to water to filter through. The difficulty is now that the sand is right up to the top, the boards get very, very slippery because there is nowhere for the water to run off between the boards.”
However, Brewster said the boardwalk had withstood the test of the weather, including Tropical Storm Ivan, and had actually provided a measure of protection for beachfront properties.
The next step, he said, was extending it around the cliff by Accra Beach and taking it to St Lawrence Gap.
