Swinefleet Flood Defence

Land & Water Services were commissioned by Birse Construction to carry out the piling and revetments works at Swinefleet as part of the priority schemes within a phased package of works to sustain key tidal defences in the Humber Estuary.

The works consisted of the installation of 1061m of 13m long AZ28 toe piles driven using a pontoon based crane along with 627m of PU18 crest piles, to raise the level of the flood defences, which were installed using a combination of a “Movax” vibratory hammer and “Giken” silent piling systems.

In addition the revetment area above the toe piles was re-profiled and stabilised with a 600mm thickness of armour stone (total 13,000t of rock). Other works included the top piles being clad and capped with FSC oak timber and the replacement of sluice gates on an existing outfall structure.

All access to the works had to be from the River Ouse within the inter-tidal area and therefore was subject to cycle tidal inundation. A temporary jetty and mooring location needed to be established adjacent to the works area with all materials being loaded out onto barges using a 150t crane.