Construction company BAM has announced its commencement of work on a cliff resilience project for a railway line in South West England.

The builder will focus on the cliffs between the towns of Dawlish and Holcombe, an effort that will further strengthen the resilience of the key rail route.

The project is being undertaken for Network Rail and includes the construction of several protective measures such as netting designed to retain the cliffs in select high-risk areas and catch gates that will halt any cliff debris before it reaches the railway.

Network Rail senior programme manager Ewen Morrison said: “The work is part of the wider South West Rail Resilience Programme, which was set up following the storm of 2014 to help protect the railway between Dawlish and Teignmouth from the effects of extreme weather."

The £34.7m, government-funded project includes the installation of coir matting on the cliff face, as well as 19,700m² of stainless-steel netting fastened by more than 6,000 soil nails drilled to depths of up to 13m in the cliff face.

The nails are made of both stainless steel and galvanised steel in an innovative attempt to provide the finest value. The galvanised portion of the nails will be set deeper into the cliff and hence corrosion-free.

The project is anticipated to continue until early next year.

BAM regions and transport managing director Alan Cox said: “The wide variety of engineering solutions needed to achieve this resilience in a very challenging environment plays to our strengths. Together with Network Rail and the local stakeholders, we aim to continue to deliver the best value whilst minimising disruption to passengers and the public alike.”