Hythe Ranges Sea Defences: Aiming at Sustainable and Successful Delivery

Van Oord was commissioned by the Environment Agency under the Marine and Coastal Framework (MCF) to design and construct new defences to provide 3km of flood protection to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) firing range and properties at Hythe Ranges in Kent, southern England. The works involved placement of over 300,000m³ of shingle recharge, refurbishment of timber groynes and a rock revetment to protect the Redoubt Scheduled Monument.

By remaining focused on delivering the project goals throughout, constructive collaboration and engagement, and leveraging technology to ensure an appropriate and timely flow of information, Van Oord (including subsidiary Mackley and design delivery partner Jacobs) and the Environment Agency’s PM, Cost Consultant, ECC PM and the ECC Supervisor and stakeholders have successfully delivered a project that is sustainable, efficient and on schedule, despite tight programme constraints and the unprecedented disruption of site work due to the 2020 pandemic.

Key aspects of the scheme covered in the paper are:

• Project team collaboration to explore opportunities to provide cost-efficiencies and enhancements within budget and programme constraints.

• Advocating sustainability, carbon reduction through design and construction, material selection.

• Improvements to the Carbon Planning Tool.

• Agile delivery and remote teamworking under Covid-19 restrictions.

• Environmental and biodiversity enhancements.