Publication Abstract

Managed realignment - lessons learned from Wallasea UK

M. Dixon, R.K.A. Morris, A.C. Birchenough, C.R. Scott and S. Colclough

Managed realignment often involves the construction of new sea walls at a location behind existing sea walls to create parcels of land that can be flooded to create new inter-tidal environments. The practice has a variety of purposes, including improved flood risk management, but so far most public emphasis has focussed upon wildlife habitat creation. Initial projects were relatively small in scale, but recent projects have been much bigger. Scaling up the size of realignments introduces a variety of additional engineering and social challenges. The recent Wallasea Island realignment is one of the biggest. The scale of this project and the variety of issues encountered makes it a good platform for exploring how such projects can be designed and managed to deliver additional environmental and social outcomes such as better inshore fisheries management and the possibility that new mudflats and saltmarshes may have a role in carbon sequestration.

Reference

M. Dixon, R.K.A. Morris, A.C. Birchenough, C.R. Scott and S. Colclough (2008) Managed realignment - lessons learned at Wallasea, UK. Maritime Engineering 16, MA2. p 61-71