Repairs to West Kirby Marine Lake get under way
History of West Kirby Marine Lake
THE West Kirby Marine Lake was originally opened in 1899, with the outer wall retaining the water in the lake and providing a walkway.
The construction also reduced the exposure of South Parade to tidal attack during times of storm.
But, by the early 1980s, the outer wall had deteriorated to such an extent that there was some doubt whether to repair the lake wall or even to demolish and abandon it, or whether to carry out the necessary reconstruction works.
Following a full economic and technical analysis, the decision was taken to demolish the lake outer wall and build a new one to the seaward side, providing a much larger area of water.
This had the result of also retaining the walkway around the lake, and the sheltering effect of the outer wall on South Parade. This work was carried out in 1986/87.
The inner face of the outer wall was constructed using a specialised marine bituminous mixture which had a life expectancy of around 20-25 years, but has recently been showing signs of “distress”.
