As an island nation, the UK has a special relationship with its nearly 18,000 km of coastline. It’s where many people choose to live and enjoy leisure time.
Our coastline is also home to unique, valuable and dynamic ecosystems including cliffs, rocky shores, sand dunes, beaches, mudflats and saltmarshes. Improving coastal infrastructure to enhance access and mitigate against the effects of climate change always involves great sensitivity to the potential environmental impact.
Opportunities to Enhance
The challenge is not just to limit the environmental impact, but to use these civil engineering projects as opportunities to enhance the natural environment and biodiversity. Addressing the risks means involving appropriate experts to work with nature, rather than against it – incorporating natural defences such as dunes and salt marshes into the overall design solution.
The project to replace 135m of damaged sea wall at Stokes Bay typifies many of the issues involved in minimising the environmental impact. The delivery methodology was adapted to minimise truck movements and involved burying the damaged elements of the seawall within the beach profile rather than removing them.
A reinforced concrete capping beam was installed on top of piles to create the new seawall. Dawson soffit formwork was used to ensure no grout was lost into the sensitive marine environment.
Creating New Habitats
The project also involved reinstating the car park to incorporate grasscrete blocks with a free-draining sub-base to allow surface water to percolate into the beach shingle. Simultaneously, the team also created 350m² of vegetated shingle habitat in an area that had previously been concreted.
This is a typical example of how civil engineers aim to minimise the environmental risks and impact while work is carried out, and actively seek opportunities to use expertise and equipment to improve biodiversity.
Working in SSSIs
Coastal civil engineering projects sometimes involve working in or near sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) – as with the work at Hengistbury Head as part of the Poole Bay Coastal Defence Scheme. Our engineers worked closely with the local authority, Natural England and the Environment Agency.
The project involved removing a large quantity of rocks to allow us to inspect a potentially damaged concrete groyne. We managed the removal and reinstatement of the rocks extremely carefully to avoid disturbance to this sensitive area.
Working in such environmentally sensitive locations means we’re accustomed to MMO and Natural England consent conditions, including best-practice pollution prevention and emergency response procedures. Our management systems are accredited to ISO 9001, 14001 & 45001 standards to ensure compliance.
Coastal habitats are a vital part of our heritage and our future. With sympathetic design and construction it’s possible to build climate resilience while protecting and enhancing the natural environment.
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