Huge flood barrier being considered to protect Southampton (From This is Hampshire)

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Huge flood barrier being considered to protect Southampton

1:04pm Wednesday 24th June 2009 in News Photograph of the Author By Peter Law, Feature Writer

Maeslant storm surge barrier

AN enormous flood barrier could be built across Southampton Water to protect the city from a tidal surge.

It is just one of the schemes being considered in a new strategy to make Southampton flood-proof for the next 100 years.

The city’s environment boss last night described the report as one of the most important pieces of work for a generation.

Huge flood barrier being considered to protect Southampton

It comes as new Environment Agency (EA) figures show 50,000 properties in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight – including more than 7,600 in Southampton – are at risk of flooding.

That figure is expected to soar over the next few decades with 25,000 new homes due to be built in Southampton alone by 2035 and renewed predictions sea levels will rise due to climate change.

Multi-million pound flood defences will be vital to protect the city and experts will study how authorities in Holland, one-third of which is under sea level, have secured its coast.

This could even include replicating the Maeslant storm surge barrier that protects Rotterdam, the largest port in the world.

The retractable gates span 360 metres – nearly as long as the Eiffel Tower – across a channel at the mouth of the port and close when sea levels surge to three metres above normal levels.

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EA southern region boss James Humphrys said Southampton will need similar significant investment in new flood defences.

“In Southampton the docks, although not built as a flood defence, are defending the city,” he said.

“In the longer run though, assuming that sea levels rise, those quaysides will not be high enough.

“There needs to be a plan to either build higher defences or to raise the land close to the shore.”

Mr Humphrys said that he could envisage mammoth retractable floodgates stretching across the Solent or Southampton Water.

Huge flood barrier being considered to protect Southampton

“We’re not talking about developing that sort of thing in my lifetime, it is a much longer term view, but it would certainly be looked at in the strategy,” he said.

Some homes considered too expensive to protect might have to be sacrificed.

However, Councillor Matt Dean, Cabinet member for environment, said the policy of the newly formed Southampton Flood Risk Management Group – the EA, city council, Southern Water and port bosses ABP – would be to save homes wherever possible.

The group’s report, to be published in early 2011, will also outline who is responsible for funding the multi-million pound infrastructure.

Comments(29)

southy says...
1:39pm Wed 24 Jun 09

"" close when sea levels surge to three metres above normal levels.""
umm when was the last time this part off the world had a 3 meter surge from the sea. you be lucky to see half meter surge, our main problem with flooding is because the docks hold the water back, excess rain water cant drain off into the river, or theres a lot off rain water coming down river on a high spring tides and gets held back by the rising tide. what the EA is not doing to is taking into account that tide range between low water and high water is getting less each year by 1mm. this is all due to the fack that the moon is moving away from the earth at a rate off 2cm a year.