The UK’s largest coastal management scheme, carried out by Team Van Oord on behalf of the Environment Agency, has been named a winner in a prestigious industry award presentation ceremony on 3 July, and is in the frame for another award later this year.
The Steart Coastal Management Project picked up the top award in the 2015 ICE South West Civil Engineering Project of the Year Awards, and has been shortlisted in the 2015 BCI Awards.
The Steart Coastal Management Project was ‘Highly Commended’ in the Community Award category. The ICE shortlisting describes the scheme as “ a £20.7 m feat of civil engineering skill, determination and dedication extending over 477 hectares of land on the Steart Peninsula.”
Steart Coastal Management Project
The £21 m Steart Coastal Management Project will help protect homes and businesses from flooding due to climate change and rising sea levels, and has established a new nature reserve.
The project is located next to the Severn Estuary on the Steart Peninsular, surrounded by internationally and nationally designated nature conservation areas forming part of the Severn Estuary Special Protection Area (SPA), Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
A new channel was created to deliberately flood 300 hectares (740 acres) of land to provide much-needed habitat for wading birds and wildfowl, and for water voles and great crested newts.
The Environment Agency has national and international obligations to create intertidal habitat on the Severn Estuary to compensate for losses that are expected due to coastal squeeze, and the Steart Coastal Management Project will provide 40% of the required offset habitat for the area.