Project Description
The multi-award winning Boston Barrier flood defence scheme in Lincolnshire is one of the biggest civil engineering projects the town has ever seen. Its innovative design, construction and implementation in the River Witham achieves significant savings in embodied and operational carbon and energy usage.
Completed in 2021, The Boston flood defence scheme is a £124 million project which provides improved flood protection to over 14,300 homes and businesses, including around 226 at risk listed buildings. Designed to safeguard the town against tidal surges such as the 2013 event which flooded over 820 homes and businesses, the scheme protects against forecast sea level rises for the next 100 years and provides 1 in 300 year storm event protection.
The Challenge
A road for utilities vehicles was required to enable maintenance teams to access the barrier from the top of the embankment and adjacent to the flood defence wall. The Environment Agency also required a natural grass/wildflower surface since the road forms part of the Macmillan Way walking route, a 290 mile footpath linking Boston to Abbotsbury in Dorset with provision for disability access.
The Solution
The right bank of the project incorporates 4,300m2 of ABG’s Sudsgrid 40 cellular paving along with Abgrid, Geogrid and Terrex geotextile to complete a 600m long reinforced grass service road.
Sudsgrid® is a cellular plastic porous paving solution for use in Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). Sudsgrid is suitable for a wide range of trafficked applications where a stabilised, free-draining grass or gravel surface is required. Typical applications include car parks, emergency access, maintenance routes, cycle paths and pedestrian and disabled access roads.
The ABG Service
Detailed technical design proposals and surface water infiltration calculations were provided to the client along with installation support for the JV construction team.
