Gabarus seawall repairs almost complete

Repairs to Cape Breton's 70-year-old Gabarus seawall are almost complete.

The woodstructure that protects the small village from the seahas been blasted by storms over the past few years and was at risk of collapse.

The village faced flooding if it failed.

The federal, provincial and municipal governments committed $700,000 to the project last fall.

Tim Menk is with a community group that's been lobbying for the repairs. He said the seawall has been covered with stone that will protect the community.

"The fix has been to have a complete engineering plan that stabilizes the old seawall and provides a greater amount of protection by having had a massive amount ofarmour stone placed in front of the seawall," he said.

"The southern end of the seawall,which had had some scattered large armour stoneplaced in 1984, has nowhad more armour stone added to it, making that a more effective breakwater."

Menk expects the work to be completed in the next few weeks.