As well as coastal defence duties during World War I, the unit provided works companies for service on the Western Front.

On the night of 4 August it was guarding the power station, Newhaven Bridge and the railway until relieved by infantry the following day.

The company devised a ropeway suspended from the roof of the sloping gallery to move the spoil to the surface, which was later adopted in other excavations.

Next the company went to the Third Army workshops where a great deal of equipment was salvaged from war-damaged factories and installed at the complex.

The company also carried out tasks such as running a water pipe through Delville Wood, and later in the year was moved to the Cambrai sector, where it worked on roads, bridges and pipelines in front of the Hindenburg Line; a number of casualties were suffered during this work near the front line.

One notable task was to build a 30 feet (9.1 m) steel derrick on a timber crib floated into the middle of the La Bassée Canal where it was sunk and filled with concrete.

During World War II the number 577 was re-used for a unit formed by the Hampshire Fortress Royal Engineers.