The multi-award winning Boston Barrier flood defence scheme in Lincolnshire, one of the biggest civil engineering projects the town has ever seen, completed in 2021. The £124 million project provides improved flood protection for over 14,300 homes and businesses, including 226 at risk listed buildings. The scheme is designed to safeguard the town against tidal surges, such as the 2013 East Coast Tidal Surge.
The surge provided the worst flooding the town had seen in 60 years, leaving hundreds of homes and businesses flooded 20 days before Christmas. The scheme also protects against forecast sea-level rises for the next 100 years and potential 1-in-300 year storm events.
The project required a road for utilities vehicles to enable maintenance teams to access the barrier from the top of the embankment and adjacent to the flood defence wall. Since the road forms part of the Macmillan Way walking route, a 290 mile footpath linking Boston to Abbotsbury in Dorset, The Environment Agency also required a natural grass/wildflower surface.
The right bank of the project incorporates 4,300m2 of ABG’s Sudsgrid 40 cellular paving. Alongside, Abgrid, Geogrid and Terrex geotextile to complete a 600m long reinforced grass service road.
To find out more about this project, read the case study here.