Brighton Marina to River Adur coastal defences detailed design
Underpinned by sustainability and innovation, this project provides increased resilience to sea level rise through the development of designs for new coastal defences and beach management plans.
Home to one of the country's most iconic beaches, this project seeks to protect the coastline between Brighton Marina and the River Adur in Sussex from the future risks of flooding and erosion.
- Client Brighton and Hove City Council, Shoreham Port Authority and Adur District Council
- Location Brighton and Hove
- Services
Protecting homes, businesses and critical infrastructure through the development of coastal defences and beach management plans
With the existing coastal defences no longer offering the level of protection required, we were appointed to develop new designs, this also included leading on the environmental and planning and consenting elements and playing a key role in stakeholder engagement.
Designed to provide a range of benefits, our designs for the new defences and beach management plans combine elements of innovation with more traditional methods. The creation of Biodiversity Net Gain forms a key part of this and the scheme includes new areas of coastal vegetated shingle and a living sea wall.
Improving social legacy has been a key consideration throughout the design of enhanced defences. With this in mind we have included the creation of new beach access points, public meeting spaces and the development of a new cycle way and footpath around Shoreham Port.
The more traditional elements of the scheme include new seawalls, rock revetments, timber groynes and beach recharge, all of which has been underpinned by carbon reduction. This included sourcing and recycling over 6000 tons surplus rock and repairing existing defences where outright replacement could be avoided.
Construction of a new concrete sea wall and a new rock armour revetment were completed at Hove Deep Sea Anglers Club and Shoreham Port Lorry Park respectively in late 2023.
Innovations in stakeholder engagement
Due to the scale and location of this project, effective stakeholder engagement was essential. With an emphasis on innovation, we developed a bespoke stakeholder engagement plan. This included making use of virtual reality (VR) technology to create a model of the seafront and a virtual engagement room. These engagement tools allow users to explore the seafront and see the benefits of the enhancements in VR, and also find out more about the project by navigating a virtual room containing resources and project information.
"The complexity of this Scheme required a can-do attitude to meet the challenges and expectations across all stakeholders. JBA’s professional ability, personable approach and unique expertise is both refreshing and a benchmark for future Brighton & Hove County Council projects."
Steven Parker, Project Manager, Brighton & Hove County Council
