Digger clears entrance to Littlehampton harbour

Littlehampton Harbour Board is working with Lafarge Tarmac, which operates the only commercial wharves in the harbour, to remove gravel from the main channel at the mouth of the harbour.

Littlehampton-based haulage company Fuse Logistics transported an excavator onto the West Beach on Tuesday last week and work to remove the material restricting access to the harbour was started immediately.

Habour master Billy Johnston said: “Shingle from west beach naturally makes its way into the river and forms a bank at the entrance to the harbour. This bank in turn feeds a bar at the mouth of the river which limits the amount of time the port can be open for commercial traffic. As part of a joint strategy to reduce the amount of shingle entering the navigation channel, the Environment Agency has also re-instated the groyne on the West Beach and the harbour board has committed funds to renew its timber structure on the west bank.”

Last year, the harbour handled over 34,000 tonnes of cargo, mainly stone.