The ACCESS project has now been published and the report is available for purchase from
Prof. Robin McInnes of Coastal & Geotechnical Services at a cost
of £17 + £2 p&p.
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
Figure 2
below:
Click on
Figure 2 to view an enlarged version
Each case study details historical and predicted
future geomorphological evolution, coastal monitoring, coastal
management, adaptation of the shoreline and lessons learnt. A
critique of Shoreline Management Plan erosion methods and
national methods of erosion prediction was also undertaken for a
selection of sites, as was the data used for assessing assets at
risk and the monetary values applied to the assets at risk.
A project report launch was held at the National
Oceanography Centre in November 2011. Presentations can be
downloaded at the
events page.
Review of regional wave
climate and implications for shoreline management -
extremes, swell, bimodal conditions.
Professor
A Bradbury £10,000 (2008/09) and £8,000 (2009/10)
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.
SCOPAC provided
a £10,000 contribution towards development of the new CIRIA
Beach Management Manual and hosted the SCOPAC launch event at
the National Oceanography Centre on 15th October 2010.
The morning was
attended by approximately 50 people, including coastal engineers
and scientists. The speakers included Stefan Laeger from
the Environment Agency and Andy Bradbury from the New Forest
District Council who summarised the key aspects of the manual.
A special thank you goes to the Channel Coastal Observatory who
provided the venue at no cost.
Copies of the
Beach Management Manual are available at a cost of £300 each
from CIRIA. The Southern Coastal Group has a
complimentary hard copy of the manual and it can be freely
downloaded in pdf format from the
CIRIA website.
Probably the most significant of the coastal research activities
in recent years has
been the establishment of the Strategic Regional Coastal
Monitoring Programmes.
The South-East
Programme started in 2002 and the South-West
programme followed in 2006. Anglia,
East Riding, the North-east and the North-west have now received
approval from Defra to undertake a similar approach in their
respective regions to ensure a nationally consistent approach to
coastal monitoring.
The programmes are funded by Defra and a specialist team has
been established at the Channel Coastal Observatory within the
National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton, to manage the
programme and develop the data analysis, storage and
dissemination procedures.
Significant advances have been made in data collection and
management as a result of this long-term programme.
A web-enabled bibliographic database comprising some
5,000 references to relevant shoreline management publications for the 400 kilometre frontage of the SCOPAC region.
The Bibliographic database provides a comprehensive list of reports and publications relating to coastal defence in the SCOPAC area. The database is searchable by topic and/or area.
Launched
in December 2006 and led by the Isle of Wight Council, this
project's multi-national partnership comprised 10 local
authorities and national institutions in the UK, France, Italy
and Poland.
RESPONSE was supported the European Union's
LIFE-Environment Programme (DG Environment) for sustainable
development.
The aim was to demonstrate an innovative
regional-scale methodology for coastal evolution and risk
mapping, taking account of the impacts of climate change. The
project also identified the current and predicted future costs
of managing coastal risks, to assist the promotion of
cost-effective preventative action, and assess the
sustainability of risk management strategies and determine how
adaptation to climate change can be implemented as a coastal
planning strategy.
The project produced three key resources:
(1) A training pack detailing the process of
producing maps showing future coastal evolution and risk
increase for decision markets;
(2) A non-technical guide to assist end-users
with best practice to reduce risks in developed coastal areas in
a sustainable way;
(3) A video summarising project methods, results
and display posters.
Covering the coastline of
central-southern England between Lyme Regis (Dorset) and Shoreham-By-Sea
(West Sussex), this
2004 web-enabled report constitutes a thorough revision of the original
Sediment Transport Study commissioned by SCOPAC in 1990.
Much additional research and information had been published since 1990 and the 2004 study incorporated all material collated from a comprehensive search of sources and by contact with relevant organisations.
The Sediment Transport Study has
been an invaluable tool in development of the second round
Shoreline Management Plans given that a key focus was on coastal
processes and managing risk. SCOPAC are grateful to David
Carter, Dr Malcolm Bray and Professor Janet Hooke for their hard
efforts in producing such an informative and user-friendly piece
of work.
The study is available from the
SCOPAC website and it will open in a new window:
The Sediment Transport project relied heavily upon the SCOPAC Sediment Transport
Bibliographic Database (Version 5 2002) to identify the sources of information that have subsequently been reviewed to
produce this study.
South-East England Strategic Coastal Defence Planning Map
2003.
Isle of Wight Centre for the Coastal Environment.
This project's output is an A3 map showing the distribution and boundaries of all Shoreline Management Plans and Coastal Defence Strategy Studies in south-east England, from Bournemouth
to the Isle of Sheppy.
Download the coastal defence planning map (PDF, 2.7Mb)
2001. Halcrow Maritime, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
University of Portsmouth and the Meteorological Office.
A Strategy for Long Term Planning and Management
of the Shoreline in the Context of Climate Change Predictions.
The key aims of the research project were to:
Derive climate change scenarios for the next
eighty years;
Develop an understanding of the generic impacts
of climate change on the coast;
Determine vulnerability, hazard and risk along
the SCOPAC coast;
Identify requirements for informing coastal
planning and management of climate change impacts; and
Identify future good practice for coastal
management.
A two-stage approach was taken. The first
involved identification of future climate scenarios and their
likely physical impacts on the coast, and the second assessed
the implications of these for assets and coastal risk
management.
Research
Chair: Dr Samantha Cope, New Forest District Council