More than 400 metres of the wall was rebuilt and reinforced ten years ago after being destroyed during a storm in March 2008.
This week, most of the wall withstood two days of being pounded by large waves caused by two deep Atlantic low-pressure systems. However, a small section opposite Lower Park was toppled.
Infrastructure Minister Eddie Noel said that he thought the defences had held up well but said it was not clear how long the damaged section would take to repair.
‘These things do not cost that much money. We have got the materials such as the granite and the concrete, and the labour costs are from using our own staff.
‘It is not clear on how long it will take. It all depends on the tidal conditions going forward and we may have to look at improving the design of the wall structure,’ he said.
‘It was reinforced around ten years ago, and I think that it has held up particularly well – it is in a very exposed area and it is an old Victorian structure. They were not designed as well as they are now.’
The Deputy was also aware that Grève de Lecq pier had been damaged in Thursday’s storms and said that repair work would be a case of working out which jobs were of the highest priority.
Meanwhile, Danny Scaife, the Chef de Police for St Helier, expressed his concern over people using the cycle track during the severe weather.
He said: ‘I was down there on Thursday morning and there were people using the cycle track when the waves were coming over – that is not a good thing to do and there is the potential for a very serious accident.
‘There were also a number of cars parked there despite repeated warnings not to leave them there.
‘I would advise people to keep well away from the coast when there are red weather warnings in force.’
Mr Scaife added that flooding on Thursday had been less severe than on Wednesday.
‘It was more serious on Wednesday, when there was a lot more debris being thrown onto the Avenue and flooding down at Gloucester Street.
‘We were also able to reopen the Avenue much more quickly after high tide on Thursday and we did not have to close the eastbound lane.’
Elsewhere, the States Fire and Rescue Service was called to deal with a wooden water tank lid that had come to rest on a three-storey house at Five Oaks after being dislodged by high winds.
A team of five firefighters worked to secure the panel to a rope before it was safely lowered to the ground.
