Memorial Park Riverbank Repair & Revetment Replacement

River Test Flex MSE® Bank Repair, Memorial Park, Romsey, Hampshire, UK, 201

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Case Study: Memorial Park Riverbank Repair & Revetment Replacement, 2017

Client: Test Valley Borough Council

‍Contractor: Five Rivers Environmental (Flex MSE®-Certified Contractors)

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In early 2017, Test Valley Borough Council proposed to repair >270m of existing timber bank revetment that had failed, running through War Memorial Park, Romsey. This particular site has a number of SSSI (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) designations with regard to native vegetation, biodiversity and a chalk bank stream.

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Flex MSE® Geo-modular Block & Interlocking Plate System was specified, due to the successes on similar projects, conducted by the Environment Agency, whereby the system had received the unique designation, “Recommended for use on SSSIs” – the first man-made product to receive such a designation to date.

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After a long tender process, the contract was awarded to Five Rivers Environmental Contracting – a Flex MSE®-Certified Contractor. Works commenced in mid-Summer 2017, first to remove the existing failed timber revetment, and then to replace the bank edge using geogrid-reinforced Flex MSE Units.

Sustainably sourced river-stone was used as a launch-apron, to not only help tie into the riverbed, but also to provide a form of permanent scour protection at the toe.

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In some places Flex MSE® Units were tied-back into the bank, with every other unit turned perpendicular to the face, and in others where structural engineers had stipulated, geogrid was laid every 3 courses of units, tying up to 1.5m into the bank.

During installation, native aquatic plants were brush-layered in between the units at the water line. Post-installation, a specific native seed mix was hydroseeded onto the face, and top of the bank to meet the sensitive vegetation specification.

The whole project was completed in a matter of weeks, whilst maintaining all SSSI designations, and making use of site-won materials from the chalk riverbank.

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