Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Stornoway airport gets £5.3 million ‘rock armour’ to combat erosion

The project began after investigation showed an "urgent" need to protect the airport from flooding.

An aerial view of Stornoway Airport, showing the new infrastructure.
The new infrastructure at Stornoway Airport is the result of million of pounds worth of investment and over a year of work. Photo: HIAL

Tens of thousands of tonnes of rock are now holding the sea back from Stornoway Airport.

Work to prevent floods from hitting the airport, which connects people in Stornoway to neighbouring islands and the mainland, has taken more than a year.

With the work now finished, Stornoway Airport has a new set of “rock armour” weighing over 36,000 tons.

It includes a “mattress” of stone under the beach next to the airport and stone-filled baskets on top of the sand.

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (Hial) announced the completion of the £5.3 million fortifications on Thursday.

The project began after investigation showed an “urgent” need to protect the airport from flooding, a Hial spokesperson says.

Erosion, caused by the constant force of the sea against the land, has worn down the dunes that have shielded Stornoway Airport in the past.

‘Massive benefit’

“We are extremely pleased that these works have been completed,” says Duncan C. M. Smith, Hial’s manager in Stornoway.

He added that the protection will be of “massive benefit to the long-term future of Stornoway Airport”.

The rock should hold back erosion for “decades to come”.

“When we noticed that coastal erosion was becoming a significant issue on the north-east quartile of the beach next to the airport, plans were swiftly put in place to restore the coastal defences,” he says.

“Airport infrastructure” would have been “at risk” without the new structures, he says.

A plane on the runway at Stornoway Airport. Photo: Sandy McCook

Kevin O’Leary, Hial’s chief operating officer, highlighted the importance of keeping Stornoway Airport safe.

“This project was an extremely important one as part of our ongoing commitment to support essential connectivity for our island communities,” he said.

More local reporting from the Press & Journal:

Conversation