The areas of South Bank and Dorman Point formed a key part of brownfield regeneration plans at Teesworks. Unlocking development at these sites required building a new channel and diverting two existing becks to capture surface water run-off and allow developments to drain into the River Tees. As the existing watercourses were polluted, hidden from sight and devoid of wildlife, this also represented a significant opportunity to embed environmental thinking at the heart of the regeneration and improve biodiversity.

Guided by the aim of delivering long-term resilience, we designed the new 1.9km long channel as a passive, low-maintenance system that would mimic the natural stream and, if required, convey significant flood flows. To create new aquatic habitats and form a green corridor for the existing becks to flow across the site, our designs for the largely open channel also incorporated a gravel bed, carefully landscaped banks and a 'close to nature' style rock ramp. Together, these features will create up to one hectare of intertidal salt marsh habitat, slow the flow, trap sediment and improve fish passage.

Construction of the hybrid engineered open channel saw close collaboration between our sustainability, ecology and engineering teams to support the regeneration project's construction partners. Due to the nature of the site, this included developing innovative engineering solutions, such as gabion baskets to form the channel. By creating a manmade valley, this solution connected the existing low-lying streams and supported the project's sustainability objectives by using recycled, site-won aggregates.

Another key design consideration was ensuring the watercourse could continue where road and infrastructure crossings were necessary. To allow the stream bed to continue, such sections were designed and constructed using partially buried large concrete culverts. As a result, the stream bed can pass through the structures, maintaining and linking habitats. The final section of the channel was also designed with the future port and shipping in mind, further demonstrating how integrated thinking can unlock positive environmental outcomes at scale, while enabling regeneration of complex industrial land.