Rother Tidal Walls – East
On behalf of the Environment Agency, we are working to strengthen the existing flood embankments on the eastern bank of the River Rother. The existing coastal defences are reaching the end of their design life, with many of them having been in place since the 20th century. This scheme forms part of the Folkestone to Cliff End Strategy.
Purpose
Much of Romney Marsh is around 1-2 metres below high spring tide levels, if nothing is done to protect the coastline, 14,500 homes would be at risk of flooding along with 700 businesses and nationally important critical infrastructure, military sites and environmental designations. The work we are carrying out at Rye will help to prevent major flooding to the community in East Rye and Guldeford, as well as tidal flooding of Romney and Walland Marshes.
What we are doing
The existing Rother Tidal Wall defences are mainly made up of earth embankments, they extend for approximately 6.5km from the tidal limit at Scots Float Sluice, along the eastern side of the tidal River Rother to the Harbour Master’s office near Rye Golf Club. The west embankment was raised around 10 years ago, and VolkerStevin has now been contracted to raise the east embankment.
We are raising and widening the flood embankments along the River Rother and Union Channel by adding clay to the crest and landward side of the existing profile. The flood defences are to be set back in two places, creating four hectares of additional intertidal habitat, to allow natural processes to occur for erosion control and habitat compensation.
We are undertaking repair and stabilisation works to Union Channel Sluice and Union Pumping Station, where we will be constructing four new flood walls to replace the two existing ones. The new walls are to be built with larger foundations and increased flood defence height to cope with the additional weight of the water, these new walls will provide a continuous flood barrier.
We have undertaken piling works at Kings Avenue and a 5m-deep steel sheet pile wall has been installed through the embankment crest. The piled wall was installed instead of widening the earth embankment, due to room restrictions.
We are also constructing two hard defence control sections, one downstream of Union Channel and the other just downstream of Monk Bretton Bridge.
Project successes
When carrying out the piling works at Kings Avenue the team faced challenges due to the limited space for construction and no space for widening the embankment. To overcome these challenges the team used a "spider" excavator to install the piles. The project has received a TechFest Award nomination and a edie Net-Zero award nomination for this innovative solution. Using the spider excavator provided many benefits some of which include:
- 65% cost reduction
- 82% decrease in carbon emissions compared to the original plan
- Reduced temporary works – less cost, carbon, duration, safety risk and environmental impact
- Reduced interface and land purchase from adjacent landowners
If you would like to read more about the use of the spider excavator on this project, please click here.
The project team work closely with the local community and have become the proud sponsors of a local rugby club. The sponsorship has enabled Rye Rugby Club to complete the construction of the club house veranda at their training grounds and the VolkerStevin team has volunteered their time and provided the materials to restore the club’s carpark. The team also regularly welcome a local birdwatching group to site, allowing them to carry out birdwatching surveys along the River Rother.
The project team’s dedication to engaging with the community, providing positive environmental benefits and caring for their workforce has been further recognised by the Consider Constructors Scheme (CCS). In the project’s most recent CCS audit they were awarded a score of 48/45, receiving an additional three points for best practice.
