www.managingwater.co.uk River restoration & management
Contractor/consultants relationships
One of the key elements to achieving success was identified as managing stakeholders’ expectations; listening to their aspirations and concerns in order to provide a feasible option. Equally important in the context of
communicating project aims however, is the often missed opportunity to include a contractor in the project design stage. Bringing these key players together at the earliest opportunity could considerably increase the confidence that projects will delivered on time and within budget. This is because contractors, who have a track record of delivering best practice river restoration, can foresee potential onsite problems more readily. Additionally, they have a greater knowledge, for example, of consent process requirements and timescales. This issue of contractor expertise was explored in more depth and it was recognised that it was often difficult within the industry to identify which contractors had sound knowledge of river restoration and this was something that needs to be addressed. But, whilst good transition from project design to delivery was identified as an essential element to achieving a
New Forest restoration scheme soon after completion
successful scheme, all too often this was hampered by funding limitations where funding is generally only provided for one financial year with little or no opportunity to carry funds to the next. Perhaps of most interest was that although there was some variability between countries in terms of the process, all parties, irrespective of whether they came from a project management, contractor, or consultant perspective, agreed with the overall findings.
A New Forest river is Delegates listening to a presentation
restored Workshop delegates were privileged to visit a restoration project that recently been completed close to Lyndhurst and this provided an opportunity for participants to discuss the approach taken. In this case, the restoration project was part of an on-going suite of schemes that had secured funding
www.fadsdirectory.com
through higher level stewardship and the LIFE 3 project for over 20,000 hectares of restoration over a number of years, which was administered by the Forestry Commission and Natural England. Key to the project success is the recognition that within this very sensitive and highly protected (SSSI, NNR, SPA, Ramsar and proposed SAC) National Park landscape, it is essential to take account of the various stakeholder interests. As such the stewardship scheme champions wildlife management and enhancement measures, but also supports the traditional grazing regimes adopted by the Commoners and Verderers, which are crucial to maintaining the unique historical practices of this area. The aim of the project was to restore the rivers’ natural channel morphology and re-connect the river to its floodplain by raising bed levels to encourage seasonal flooding. The first stage involved preparation of the new meandering channel by scraping top soil from site to expose the old river gravels beneath. The banks on either side of the channel were then re-turfed to stabilise the new design. The bed level of the meanders was then raised by in filling with locally sources hoggin. Turf retained from the site was then used to finish the design. Sediment controls, including heather beds (sourced from the forest) and a sedimat, were also installed to filter out excess sediment.
Full details of this workshop, the RESTORE project or the work of the River Restoration Centre are available at
www.therrc.co.uk. And don’t forget the Centre’s staff would love to hear about your projects, issues or concerns.
Authors: Jenny Mant and Victoria West
(the River Restoration Centre) 31
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