Torr rock armour bolsters landmark Weymouth development

Limestone rock armour from Holcim UK’s Torr Quarry is being used to bolster sea defences at a multi-million pound development in Weymouth.

Juno MMXX Ltd is developing The Sanctuary, a £52m scheme on land at Newtons Cove providing 141 homes including townhouses, apartments and a 60-bed care home, alongside leisure and community facilities.

The redevelopment of the former Ministry of Defence site involves bolstering the area’s coastal defences to protect against rising sea levels as part of an associated £8m coastal defence package to create a new sea wall, cliff stabilisation and heavy rock armour protection.

Holcim UK is providing 16,000 tonnes of limestone rock armour from its Torr Quarry in Frome to reinforce the shoreline as part of the scheme. Rock armour, or armourstone, is a natural quarry stone, chosen for its durability and resistance to wear and erosion with sizes ranging from 45mm to a 10+ tonne rock.

Transporting the limestone boulders to the development site also provided a logistical challenge due to their size, with each rock weighing six tonnes.

Holcim worked with local Frome haulier JF Pearce, which provided specially adapted lorries utilising converted shipping containers on the back to carry loads from Somerset to Weymouth. Each boulder is then placed into position by specialist contractors building the sea defence wall.

Katie Vincent, Commercial Manager for Holcim Aggregates in the south west, said: “This project has been two years in the making so we are delighted that we are finally delivering on site.

“It demonstrates Holcim and Torr’s capabilities in being able to deliver coastal and sea defence projects like this, particularly as the UK faces increasing threats from rising sea tides.

“It also demonstrates our logistical capabilities in being able to choose the right partner in order to deliver the product to site safely and on time, despite its challenging nature.”

Work on the rock armour project started in June and will continue for four months, aiming to complete during September 2026.

For more information about Holcim’s river and sea defence solutions visit its specialist pages on its website.