ABPmer to Undertake Humber Estuary Study

ABPmer, a leading provider of coastal process assessments, has been commissioned by the Environment Agency to provide a detailed understanding of past, present and likely future change around Read’s Island on the Humber Estuary.  

The study will help the Environment Agency determine what action they need to take to maintain current flood protection levels in the area.

ABPmer will review survey data, historical charts and previous studies undertaken during the last two decades, to develop a conceptual understanding of the changes that have occurred and the controls on the processes at work around Read’s Island.

The results will be used to focus on understanding what impacts are likely on the local defenses in the future.

Peter Whitehead, Associated Director at ABPmer, said: “At the top of the Humber Estuary, between the Humber Bridge and Trent Falls the underwater depth is and has been very changeable in an episodic manner, as the main channel moves back and forth across the estuary width. These changes are at their greatest between North and South Ferriby, particularly around Read’s Island. In this area the depth has changed by many meters in some places in short periods of time when the channels have moved.”

“Changes in channel position change the pressures of erosion on the local flood defenses. To ensure flood protection levels are maintained, the Environment Agency needs an understanding of the natural processes at work in the area historically, now and in the future.”

The project is due to complete by April 2015.