2019
Managed realignment
United Kingdom
Blackwater Estuary
0.7106486
51.719053
Saltmarsh
0.28 Hectares
Create a More Natural Shoreline
Habitat Creation
Habitat Enhancement
From around 2015/16 onwards the National Trust (who own and manage Northey Island) has been carrying out several new coastal adaptation and habitat enhancement initiatives on the island. These all follow on from the first ever managed realignment in the UK which was carried out on this island back in 1991
These projects (past and present) are captured across this OMReg database and include the beneficial use of dredge sediment on the west side of the island and another new managed realignment to the south east.
As one component of this integrated mix of initiatives, this small managed realignment was undertaken of the embankment on the south side of the island. This was done in August/September 2019 and involved the following four key components:
1) Removing protective concrete 'Essex Blocks' and the bitumen (used to bind joints between blocks) from the embankment's outer face
2) Constructing a short (18m) length of new closing embankment and tying that in to natural ground and preventing unwanted flooding to adjacent fields; and
3) Earthworks to lower the full 155m length of the existing South Embankment and in-fill the ditch located immediately inland to surrounding ground level, ensuring a net balance of ‘cut’ and ‘fill’ material to avoid the need for import or off-site disposal of material.
The work at Northey Island is possible thanks to National Trust Neptune Funding and EU funding under the LIFE on the Edge Project.