If you kitesurf or landboard / buggy at Redcar then this will be of interest to you so please take a look.

A few weeks ago James was contacted by a gentleman from RWE Dea - a gas and oil production company - who are opening a new field off the coast of Teesside and are planning to run a pipeline ashore at Coatham Sands a.k.a Majuba at Redcar. The company wanted to make sure that local kitesurfers were aware of the project and given the opportunity to ask any questions or raise concerns about it. James passed the mail on and I've been in touch with them and received the following info.


The following link/path is to the Environmental Statement for the offshore project which includes the construction of the new pipelines to shore at Coatham Sands. It's a public document and the link (or document) can be freely distributed.

http://www.rwe.com/web/cms/mediablob/en/434890/data/53336/2/rwe-dea-uk/responsibility/public-consultation/RWE-Dea-UK-Breagh-Offshore-Environmental-Statement.pdf

Current schedule is to start work in Coatham Sands in March 2011 and prepare the landfall site for the pipeline. The offshore works will take place approximately between April - June 2011 in the 'nearshore' area, i.e. the shallow waters just offshore of Coatham Sands. Following that the pipeline construction moves away from the coast towards the platform. It's a one-off construction activity. We have only just appointed our contractor for the pipeline construction works, so we expect to be able to firm up on construction schedules better in the coming weeks/months.


The document linked is over 200 pages long but the most relevant sections are the diagrams on pages 5 and 9 showing where the pipe comes in and also - and this is important - that it appears to be pass under the beach and surface behind it.

You can also see from the map on page 9 that the pipe basically passes south east of the proposed windfarm underwater. If you open the map in the pdf file and and find redcar on googlemaps you should be able to work out where it will be. I'll try and overlay the 2 and post it here.

So basically, if you have any questions or concerns, post them here and they'll get passed on as soon as possible.

Having scanned through the doc my immediate questions would be:

- how will construction work affect access to the beach and inshore waters itself - will the area around and above the pipeline be closed off while it goes on?
- how will the construction works and traffic affect access to the beach - and to Paddies / South Gare?

Joe

here's an attempt at overlaying the rather poor map in the document over google maps - DISCLAIMER - this could be completely wrong but I've matched up the road to Paddies and it seems to fit more or less.

just had a quick flick through the document.

JomoJ wrote:
- how will construction work affect access to the beach and inshore waters itself - will the area around and above the pipeline be closed off while it goes on?
- how will the construction works and traffic affect access to the beach - and to Paddies / South Gare?

Joe

another thing to add to the questions is, how long will access be restricted (if it is going to be restricted)

also if the BKSA come to redcar again next year, which im sure they will. Will this be effected ?

hi

here are the points I've put to the company rep, will post once I get replies back


- The map and diagrams appear to show the pipe coming ashore under the beach and surfacing behind the dunes. Is this correct?
- If not, will there be any permanent obstruction or structure on or near the beach or within 3m depth of the low water mark after construction is complete? If so, what will this be?
- I attempted to match the map in diagram with a snapshot of googlemaps and have attached this to the mail - can you confirm if this is more or less accurate? The maps in the document are not the most detailed!
- How will construction of the pipeline affect access to the beach and inshore waters? Will any area of the beach / shore be off limits while construction takes place? If so, how long do you expect this to last and approximately at what time of year?
- Will construction or project affect access to either the Majuba Rd car park or the access road that runs past Corus to South Gare / Paddies?