Flood Defence: Major Scheme in Hull Officially Opened

The Government has sent us info on a major flood defence scheme for Hull. Here are the details;

The £42 million scheme is an investment that makes the city more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

On 5 December 2013, the east coast experienced a serious tidal surge, causing devastating flooding in Hull and communities along the banks of the Humber. The highest ever tide (5.8m) was recorded at the Hull Barrier.

The Humber: Hull frontages flood defence scheme, is just one of a series of projects that have been completed to help reduce flood risk in and around Hull, and make communities more resilient to flooding. Funding for the scheme to upgrade the tidal flood defences along the estuary shoreline of the city came from Defra’s Flood Defence Grant in Aid with a £3 million contribution from Highways England (now National Highways).

The defences now provide a standard of protection that reduces flood risk to a 0.5 per cent chance in any given year. Massive in scale, the project covers around 7km of shoreline, out of a total frontage length of about 12km, from St Andrew’s Quay Retail Park in the west, through St Andrew’s Dock, William Wright Dock, Albert Dock, Victoria Pier and through Victoria Dock Village in the east.

Construction work by contractors BMMJV, BAM Nuttall and Mott Macdonald, started in the St Andrew’s Quay Retail Park in January 2019 following completion of the design, and major works were finished in December 2021.

The project connects with other flood defence improvements which have been built along the Humber by East Riding Council; east of Hull at Paull and to the west of the city at Hessle. The Environment Agency worked in partnership with Hull City Council, to use materials and a colour palette to blend the new defences into the existing landscape. This was particularly important in residential areas and areas of cultural significance to the city.

Glazed panels in the flood walls at several locations maintain estuary views from the footpaths running parallel to the estuary which form part of the popular Trans Pennine Trail, as well as from homes at Victoria Dock Village.