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Monitoring of foreshore recharge for restoration of intertidal profiles and flood defence management: Shotley Point mud placement

Monitoring of foreshore recharge for restoration of intertidal profiles and flood defence management: Shotley Point mud placement

Shotley gravel bund in June 2000, Essex
Shotley gravel bund in June 2000, Essex

From January 1998 to August 2000, the CCRU carried out 3-monthly monitoring of morphology, sediment properties, vegetation, and invertebrate communities at a mud placement (dredge disposal) trial site at North Shotley, Orwell estuary, UK. Foreshore recharge, involving the placement of dredged material within protective bunds, offers an economic yet potentially environmentally beneficial way of using dredge sediments. Recharge in front of eroding or eroded sea defences can potentially create a stable intertidal profile, possibly incorporating a new strip of protective salt marsh. The aim of this project was to monitor the behaviour, and evaluate the flood defence potential, of dredged sediments emplaced within gravel bunds on an estuarine foreshore. This research has been conducted in collaboration with University College London with funding from Harwich Haven Authority.