Levee Setbacks and Floodplains
Alkborough Flats Managed Realignment Alkborough, North Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom
Alkborough Flats is the location of an Environment Agency of England (EA) coastalmanaged realignment (or restoration) scheme, completed in 2006, in the Humber Estuary. The scheme was constructed by Volker and Stevin and is one of the largest managed realignment sites and one of the largest flood storage schemes in Europe. It is located on the south bank of the inner Humber Estuary at the confluence of the River Ouse and the River Trent. Inundation of the Alkborough Flats provides a massive flood storage area that is sufficient, according to EA predictions at the time of the site design, to reduce high-tide levels over a large part of the upper estuary by up to 150 millimeters. At a projected annual sea level rise of 4 millimeters per year until 2025, and then 8.5 millimeters per year until 2055, the analysis at the time of construction indicated that the Alkborough Flats scheme would modify the regime to account for 25 years of climate change impact.
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