Jacob's Ladder to get £200k repairs

Pebbles are being shot at it 

A battered seawall and ramp in Sidmouth will receive a facelift this autumn at a cost of £200,000.

The work, at Jacob's Ladder Seawall and the Millennium Walkway, will begin next month and be completed in November. 

East Devon District Council says the structures have taken many years of storm damage and a new concrete face and replacement ramp are now needed to keep them safe. 

Independent councillor for Woodbury and Lympstone, Geoff Jung, who is portfolio holder for coast, country and environment explained why the work needed doing now.

“Basically the churning up of all the pebbles in a storm and then them being shot at the concrete wall and you can see, it's just like massive sand blasting,” he said. 

But Cllr Jung insisted there is no danger to the public before work starts.

“The walkway itself is only a couple of feet off the ground. It's fixed to the cliff. Some of the railings are bit wobbly now and there's a few that are missing and they're unsafe but it only prevents people from falling a couple of feet.”

While work is underway the Millennium Walkway and Undercliff path will be closed to the public but there will still be access from Jacob’s Ladder beach to the bottom of Jacob’s Ladder steps, as well as to the Jacob’s ladder beach kiosk.

When the maintenance work is complete, workers will replace the emergency beach exit at East Beach, replacing the current scaffold steps with a metal stairway.  

But Cllr Jung suggests the work will need to be done again in future. He believes the repairs should last a quarter of a century.

“But it could be sooner - it could be later. It all depends on the weather conditions," he said. 

“But it's this pummelling effect of the stone against concrete, the reinforcement steel you can see - and that's all got to be covered up.”

The council says the work is essential and has been scheduled to avoid the busiest time of year for residents and visitors. Officers insist the repairs need to be complete before the onset of winter storms.