Douglas prom railings to be replaced with 1.2m high wall

Mon, 13 Nov 2023

A wall of 1.2 meters high is to replace the existing railings along a 500 metre stretch of the promenade from a point just south of the Douglas War Memorial on Harris Promenade to a point opposite the Empress Hotel on Central Promenade.

According to the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) the purpose of the wall is to provide a defence against wave overtopping impacting the highway, tram track and footways in that area.

It is intended that in the future this wall will form part of a wider response to climatic change and in particular to counter the impact of wave overtopping and predicted sea level rises. Planning permission for the new wall was granted in May 2020.

The wall will be constructed from cast in-situ reinforced concrete with decorative surfaces that mirror the features on the existing concrete pillars. 

Following a formal tender process and Treasury approval, the Department has appointed Island Drainage and Groundwork Ltd (IDG) as Principal Contractor for this scheme.

IDG plan to start work during January 2024 and begin removal of the existing railings, then start construction of the new wall.

It anticipates that this work will be completed by the end of September 2024, however this time frame may be adversely affected by the very winter weather conditions that the wall is being built to counter.

The footprint of the work site will be kept to a minimum. It is intended that the contractor will work on short sections incrementally from one end of the site to the other, opening up public access to the new wall as work progresses.

Planning approval has also been granted to replace a further section of railings between the Sea Terminal and the TT Café by with a new sea wall. The Department will shortly tender this work, with construction to begin at the earliest opportunity.

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