Flood Defenses at Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Port of Immingham are about to receive an investment boost of around £5 million which will increase the port’s resilience to flooding in the future.
Immingham, which is the UK’s largest port by tonnage, was extensively flooded during the east coast tidal surge of December 2013. Since the surge, ABP have been working closely with North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC), the Lead Local Flood Authority and the Environment Agency (EA) on a permanent long term solution to reduce the risk of tidal flooding.
Whilst the port’s responsiveness to tidal surges and the individual resilience of specific key pieces of infrastructure has been improved in recent years, it became apparent that the only certain way of improving resilience to tidal flooding was to raise and improve flood defense infrastructure along the coastal frontage of the port, said ABP in the release.
NELC, ABP and EA worked closely together on the business case and application for Flood and Coastal Flood Risk Management Grant in Aid from Defra.
ABP’s Port Manager for Grimsby and Immingham, Mark Frith said: “ Ensuring the port’s resilience to tidal flooding will provide a real springboard for future investment at the port, as we seek to grow our business and invest in new infrastructure in to the future. ”
The Environment Agency’s Senior Coastal Advisor, Mark Adams added: “ The EA is committed to improving flood resilience and preparedness across the nation, and this great result at Immingham serves to demonstrate that it is not just houses that need protection but that nationally significant infrastructure and industry have the same needs as well .”
As part of this funded package of works, the project team will continue to work together to develop further flood reduction processes that will ensure further resilience over the next few years.
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