£450k restoration begins in June
Major repairs are to be carried out to stabilise the foundations of the Needles lighthouse. The 151-year-old lighthouse off the coast of the Isle of Wight is built on chalk, which has softened and is crumbling. Without stabilisation this could eventually lead to the tower’s collapse.
Engineers will begin work on a £450,000 project to reconstruct the base of the lighthouse in June 2010. This will involve digging a trench round the base of the lighthouse, sinking a ring of stabilising posts into the trench, and then infilling with concrete.
Work is expected to take around 12 weeks to complete. The Needles lighthouse is 33.25m high and was automated in 1994.
