Research

The Southern Coastal Group is responsible for delivering the SCOPAC research programme.

Research currently being undertaken includes:

• Evolution of coastal sediment sinks

• Minor Funds Contributions 2011 - 2013

• Extreme wave conditions within the SCOPAC region

• ACCESS (Adapting to Climate Change along England's Southern Shorelines)

• Sediment tracer studies East Solent (opens in a separate page)

• Maintenance of Coastal Structures - Phase 1: Timber Groynes

Evolution of coastal sediment sinks

Southampton University / CCO - £25,000 (2011/12)

The SCOPAC Research sub-group are meeting in Autumn 2011 to discuss the project brief.

Minor Funds Contributions 2011 - 2013

• £4,000 to the Sediment Tracer Study: Havant, Portsmouth & Gosport Partnership - £2,000 (2011/2012) and £2,000 (2012/2013)

• £4,000 to the Non-standard Rock Groynes Project: Bournemouth Borough Council - £2,000 (2011/2012) and £2,000 (2012/2013)

Extreme wave conditions within the SCOPAC region

The investigation into extreme wave conditions in the SCOPAC region by Professor Andy Bradbury is now largely complete.   

Key conclusions suggest that the central south coast is regularly subject to conditions that are not generally considered in scheme design. Current scheme design does not account for bi-modal conditions, where there is a combination of not only wind waves but swell waves also.  The implication is that greater overtopping and wave run-up on beaches might be expected than traditional design advice might suggest.

Consequently defences in most of the SCOPAC region are not designed to a high enough standard.  Most of the Solent shoreline is unaffected by these conditions as it is protected by the Isle of Wight from swell waves, until you reach Hayling Island where the bi-modal conditions are present.

The conclusions support the need for a change in the design approach where these conditions are present. This is likely to take several years and considerable additional (national) funding to deal with.  

As an interim measure, steps have been taken to modify the CCO website to identify these conditions routinely in real time:

• follow this link to view data from one of the buoys

A screenshot from the CCO website

All wavebuoy sites are now enabled with this technology and can be accessed via the realtime wave pages.  This will at least allow partners to identify such conditions in a simple manner. 

This is realistically as much as this project can expect to deliver. The next step is to provide a series of trigger levels which can provide text or email alerts when these conditions occur.

The problem arising from the research conclusions has already been highlighted to the EA Sustainable Asset Management Theme Advisory Research Group (SAMTAG), to a workshop for the EA flood forecasters, and a section of the new CIRIA Beach Management Manual now includes a reference to it.

Some very senior UK coastal engineers have considered this to be a major issue, suggesting that it should be dealt with as a nationally funded EA research project in the “must do” category.  A detailed proposal must now be prepared, but it seems likely that a national programme will emerge from this project.

This is exactly what we had hoped for and demonstrates once again how valuable both the regional coastal monitoring programme and the SCOPAC research programmes are.

ACCESS (Adapting to Climate Change along England's Southern Shorelines)

The ACCESS project is essentially investigating methods associated with effectively quantifying ‘Assets at risk along the SCOPAC coastline’.

There is a need for more refined assessments to be made of the methodologies currently applied in Shoreline Management Plans and Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategies to ascertain coastal erosion risk and identify and value the assets at risk, looking ahead over the next one hundred years. 

The greater the erosion risk to property, the more likely the frontage will obtain the benefit-cost ratio required to achieve a Hold The Line policy, thereby potentially attracting funding for future works.  Still, if methods are under- or indeed over-predicting erosion then there could be significant implications for future policy setting and central government funding distribution.

Coastal and Geotechnical Services, Halcrow and the Channel Coastal Observatory (CCO) are undertaking the work for this project. 

As an introduction to the project, the CCO used a coarse method to identify “hotspots” across the SCOPAC region where more than 40 properties are at risk from erosion and/or flooding within Shoreline Management Plan “Management Unit” boundaries over the next 100 years - see Figure 1 below:

Click on Figure 1 to view an enlarged version

With a focus on sites under threat from instability, erosion and erosion followed by flooding, case studies for each geomorphology type were selected from the list of hotspots, ensuring a variety of examples were taken from across the SCOPAC region.  These include the following case studies identified in the Figure 2 below:

Click on Figure 2 to view an enlarged version

The ACCESS project team are planning to print the document in the Autumn of 2011 and hold a launch event at the National Oceanography Centre inviting Councillors, planners and consultants.

Maintenance of Coastal Structures - Phase 1: Timber Groynes

This research project is due to commence and a start was made with a SCOPAC workshop held at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, entitled The Nuts and Bolts of Timber Groynes.

Approximately 30 coastal engineers and scientists attended the morning workshop.  Detailed notes of the presentations and Q&A session will feed directly into the project - and can be downloaded here:

The morning came to a close with a Q&A session, during which the majority of attendees submitted a question and photo of a timber groyne that they wanted to discuss. 

The workshop was very much aimed at sharing best practice “on the ground” knowledge between experienced coastal engineers and new engineers or scientists to assist operating authorities with basic skills development.

See also...

Completed research

Future research programme