Wave Buoy Spares for Teignbridge District Council

Teignbridge District Council are acting as the lead authority for the South West Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme (SWRCMP) which is 100% funded by the Environment Agency (EA).

This programme is the largest of the National Coastal Monitoring Programme regions, encompassing 2450 km of coast between Portland Bill in Dorset and Beachley Point on the border with Wales. It was established in 2006 and is in its 4th phase of EA funding (2006-2011, 2011-2016, 2016-2021, 2021-2027). The funding for this phase is over £9m.

The programme collects different types of coastal monitoring data, including topographic beach survey data, bathymetric data, LiDAR, aerial photography and habitat mapping. The Programme also has a network of 13 directional wave buoys and tide gauges around the South West coast. This data feeds into a long term dataset showing changes to the beaches and coastline of the South West. It allows us, working with Risk Management Authorities, to better understand the processes affecting our coast ensuring that coastal defence schemes are designed based on reliable information.

The wave buoys (Datawell Waverider) are used to monitor the hydrodynamic wave action around the south west and require regular maintenance. In order to carry out this maintenance a number of spares are required. Also due to the location of the buoys it is not uncommon for damage to occur from passing vessels resulting in recovery and repairs to be carried out by the supplier RS Aqua.