What is the Medmerry scheme?
The scheme will greatly improve the standard of flood protection for over 300 homes, the water treatment works and the main road into Selsey. It will also create important new intertidal wildlife habitat and open up new footpaths, cycleways and bridleways.
What is the location of Medmerry?
Medmerry is the largest managed realignment of the open coast in Europe, on the stretch of coast that was most threatened by coastal flooding in South East England.
How much did Medmerry cost?
The project in Medmerry, West Sussex, cost £28 million, took two years to build and saw 7km of new walls built behind old defences that had been breached.
What is coastal realignment?
Coastal realignment or managed retreat is a form of soft engineering that involves creating a new position for the coastline through engineering. In the case of managing coastal flooding, this means moving the boundary inland.
What happened at Medmerry?
At Medmerry in Sussex, the earth embankment, originally built in the 1960s to prevent the sea flooding the land, has now been breached so that natural mudflats are slowly being created by the advancing tide.
What strategy was used at Medmerry?
Following extensive consultation on the 2008 Pagham to East Head Coastal Defence Strategy, the managed realignment scheme became the adopted solution for Medmerry, allowing a new 300 hectare intertidal area to form seaward of the new defences.
What was done at Medmerry?
Completed in November 2013, the multi-award winning Medmerry Managed Realignment Scheme, at Selsey in West Sussex, includes the largest realignment of open coast in the UK. ‘Managed realignment’ involves building new defences inland from the coast and allowing a new intertidal area to form seaward of the new defences.
What is Medmerry managed retreat?
Medmerry is the largest managed realignment on the open coast in Europe. It is a multi-objective scheme, providing cost effective flood risk management for 348 properties as well as restoring 183 hectares of intertidal habitat.
What is SOF engineering?
Soft engineering is where the natural environment is used to help reduce coastal erosion and river flooding. At the coast soft engineering is where a beach is used to absorb wave energy and reduce erosion.
Is managed retreat expensive?
Because erosion will resume after the defences have been removed, more sediment can be transported along the coast by longshore drift, allowing beaches further down the coast to be replenished naturally . Although managed retreat and re-alignment are low-cost and effective, they are not aways popular.
What is the cost of rock armour?
| Technique | Advantage | Approximate Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Reventments | Less beach material is eroded compared to a sea wall. Cheaper and less intrusive than a sea wall. | £2000/m |
| Rock armour / boulder barriers | Cheap and efficient | £3000/m |
| Gabions | Cheap and efficient. | £100/m |
| Off-shore breakwater | Beaches retain natural appearance. |
How long does rock armour last?
– Large steel or stainless steel mesh cages that are filled with rocks. – They run down the beach, at right angles to the coastline. – They function in a similar way to wooden groynes. – Expected life span of 20 – 25 years if made from steel because they will rust.
What has been done at Medmerry?
Is rip rap hard engineering?
Hard engineering strategies act as a barrier between the sea and the land. Artificial structures are used to change or disrupt natural processes. Examples of hard engineering strategies include sea walls, groynes, revetments, rock armour (rip rap), gabions and offshore breakwaters.
Who pays managed retreat?
The federal government usually provides three quarters of the funding, and state and local governments administer the programs and fund the balance. Once local governments receive buyout funds, they offer homeowners with damaged properties the pre-disaster value of their home to move away instead of rebuilding.
What is a disadvantage of managed retreat?
Causes controversy due to lack of understanding. Requires large initial financial investment. Requires long term planning. Requires community buy-in and cooperation of multiple agencies.
How Long Will rock armour last?
What is the Medmerry managed realignment scheme?
They have developed the Medmerry managed realignment scheme with the help of a wide range of community representatives. The scheme will greatly improve the standard of flood protection for over 300 homes, the water treatment works and the main road into Selsey.
What is the Selsey Medmerry scheme?
The Medmerry scheme had 3 key objectives: 1) sustainable flood risk management: It will provide a higher standard of protection to 348 properties in Selsey, as well as key infrastructure such as the main road and waste water treatment works.
Who is involved in the development of the Medmerry scheme?
The Environment Agency has involved local residents throughout the development of the Medmerry scheme. They worked with local residents and interest groups to establish the Medmerry Stakeholder Advisory Group ( MStAG) in 2009. MStAG member list, August 2012:
What is the new Medmerry site?
The original flood defence was an artificially maintained shingle bank. This ‘hold the line’ option offered little opportunity for ecosystem functioning and services. The new Medmerry site is delivering 500ha of functional intertidal, freshwater and terrestrial habitats.