We partner with our clients to safeguard communities from flood risk, bringing bold ideas to life that enhance our natural environment for future generations.
Helping manage the water cycle across whole catchments, we think about the bigger picture with every decision we make to ensure we leave a positive impact on our communities and the environment.
- Rethinking flood risk
- Working with natural processes
- Protecting coastlines
- Securing vital infrastructure
- Funding flood risk projects
- Developing innovation
Rethinking flood risk
Managing flood risk assets across entire catchments or multiple boroughs can be complex – we help from strategy through to design and site supervision, engaging communities and using new technologies to alleviate flooding and enhance the environment for future generations, whatever the source may be.
South Campshires flood protection scheme
Spanning a 1km stretch of the River Liffey in Dublin, the South Campshires flood protection scheme seamlessly integrates flood risk management solutions within the public realm, protecting 3000 homes from flooding while enabling the local community to continue to enjoy use of the riverside location.
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Better with the bigger pictureWith climate change and increasing urbanisation expected to exacerbate flooding events around the world, flood risk specialists Graham Knott and Cathryn Spence offer six ways to improve holistic flood risk management. |
Working with natural processes
From strengthening a community’s flood resilience using natural flood management measures, to sustainably managing water in towns and cities by integrating green infrastructure and SuDS, we work with natural processes to support wellbeing, enhance biodiversity and improve water quality.
Swindale Valley restoration
Conducting a fluvial audit of Swindale Beck in Cumbria, we helped restore the river to its natural meandering path, helping slow the flow of water through the valley to reduce downstream flooding, while delivering benefits to water quality and biodiversity.
Clandeboye Rainwater Garden
Drawing inspiration from the natural environment and children’s love of play, we’ve designed a rainwater garden consisting of ponds, cascades and bog gardens at Clandeboye Primary School in Northern Ireland, reducing local flood risk while creating a new outdoor learning environment for pupils.
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Three ways to encourage more natural flood managementNatural flood management can increase flood resilience and deliver multiple other benefits to communities. But many flood risk management authorities believe it can be too challenging to put such measures in place on a large scale. Flood risk specialist Steve Cook suggests some reasons why and looks at how to better promote natural flood risk measures to see more widespread uptake. |
Protecting coastlines
Our dynamic coastlines can make coastal erosion and flood risk management complex – we help from policy setting and strategy, through to design and site supervision, delivering integrated, sustainable and cost-effective coastal management solutions that help make our coasts places people want to be.
Lyme Regis Environmental Improvements IV
Undertaking one of the UK’s most complex coastal stabilisation schemes, we designed a new sea wall, cliff protection, and drainage systems to protect nearly 500 vulnerable homes, as well as roads and local infrastructure from coastal erosion.
Securing vital infrastructure
From asset inspections and environmental management to ground investigation and detailed design works, we make bridges, railways, roads and other critical infrastructure more resilient, while driving technical excellence and sustainability in the delivery of major programmes.
Hinksey flood alleviation scheme
Increasing resilience of the UK rail network, the £18 million Hinksey flood alleviation scheme is helping protect a busy section of mainline railway between London and the Midlands from flooding.
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The Future of InfrastructureThis is a pivotal moment in the history of infrastructure. Aging and inadequate networks and systems are holding back economic growth and social prosperity. But change is coming fast. Innovative solutions and new approaches are evolving to provide the tools and resources required to deliver the safe, secure and resilient infrastructure we need. As we enter this new era, the Future of Infrastructure report provides insights from leading industry professionals on what is next in the story of infrastructure. |
Funding flood risk projects
Incorporating natural, social and human capital in the development of flood risk management schemes, we’re identifying and valuing the wider benefits generated by a schemes to incentivise different organisations to invest in them – enabling the funding to get more projects off the ground.
Valuing National Grid’s natural capital assets
Working with National Grid we’ve helped value, manage and generate investment in the natural capital across their land – our tool estimated the impact that woodland, grassland and freshwater on their landholdings have on a range of services such as local air quality, recreation, carbon storage and flood defences.
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Going back to natureAt a time when protecting the environment and cutting costs are top priorities for flood risk managers, putting a monetary value on nature makes a lot of sense, write associate hydrologist Carl Pelling and sustainability consultant Penelope Borton. |
Developing innovation
From leading the industry in embracing new technologies on projects such as drone technology, BIM, GIS, virtual and augmented reality and 3D printing, to nurturing technical innovation by holding hackathons across three continents to develop software solutions that can save time on water projects, we’re continually looking to promote and encourage innovation.
CityHack London 2018
Bringing together teams of computer programmers and industry experts, CityHack offered an intense, weekend-long competition to develop innovative software solutions to London’s biggest challenges, including flood risk. One of the winning teams proposed a crowdsourced flood management solution for the Environment Agency’s Thames Estuary Asset Management 2100 programme (TEAM2100), helping build up a picture of the change in tidal flood defence asset conditions over time.