About Bournemouth's Beach Improvement Schemes (BIS)
Bournemouth beach loses approximately 70,000 m³ of material annually (1 million m³ every 13 years). The shoreline has been renourished on several occasions in recent years; these projects are referred to as 'Beach Improvement Schemes' (BIS).
BIS2 & BIS3 represented a "boom & bust" approach to renourishment schemes, where the beach was delivered with a large quantity of material (i.e. 1974/75) and left until much of it was lost before funding was available for further replenishment (i.e. 1988/89).
From 2005 funding allowed for a change of approach, with BIS4 delivering a 5-year phased renourishment, from 2008-2010 making good annual losses that kept the beach at a constant level and volume between Boscombe and Southbourne until 2012. Since 2015 renourishment schemes at Bournemouth are part of the wider Poole Bay Beach Management Scheme 2015-2032, with projects planned every five years.
| Scheme | Year | Quantity (m³) |
|---|---|---|
| BIS1 | 1970 | 84,000 |
| BIS2 | 1974-75 | 1,400,000 |
| BIS3 | 1988-89 | 1,000,000 |
| BIS4.1 | 2005-06 | 600,000 |
| BIS4.2 | 2006-07 | 898,000 |
| BIS4.3-4.5 | 2008-10 annual top-ups | 228,000 |
| BIS5 | 2016 | 358,000 |
Bournemouth Beach Improvement Schemes (BIS) 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5.
During the three years 2008-
BIS4.3 – March 2008
A project to renourish a small section of beach between Boscombe & Southbourne. The dredger Oranje delivered sand to the coast between 8th-
A section of beach between Boscombe and Southbourne was renourished this winter by the Fareham-
Beach material was dredged off the Isle of Wight and brought by the dredger close to the beach at Groyne 30. The dredge/sail/discharge cycle from the IOW took approximately 11 hours.
The project suffered bad-
BIS4.4 – March 2009
A project to renourish a small section of beach at Southbourne. The dredger Crestway delivered sand to the coast between 4th-
Undertaken by Fareham-
Beach material was dredged off the Isle of Wight and brought close to the beach by the dredger from where it was pumped ashore through a 300m long floating pipeline and then levelled by bulldozers. The dredge/sail/discharge cycle from the IOW took approximately 11 hours.
BIS4.4 was completed on Saturday 21st March, with 74,192m³ added to the beach between Groynes 50 & 53.
Three groyne bays were replenished between Groynes 50 & 53 at Southbourne.
Further work – the existing timber groynes 51 and 52 are life expired and will shortly be rebuilt, using the renourished beach as a working platform.
BIS4.5 – September 2010
Work began on 12th September 2010 on the beach top-
The pumping of approximately 70,000m³ of beach material was completed on 20th September and the beach fully reopened to the public 10 days later.
Four groyne bays were renourished between Groynes 28 & 32 at Southbourne.