£75million flood scheme completed at Canvey Island
The Environment Agency project is expected to protect 6,000 homes and businesses in the area
The Environment Agency has completed a £75 million project to reduce the risk of flooding at Canvey Island in Essex.
The renewed flood defences took three years to build and are expected to protect more than 6,000 homes and businesses in the area for the next 50 years.
Much of Canvey Island lies below the daily high-water level in the Thames Estuary, which increases the island's risk of flooding to people, property and infrastructure.
Since 2022, a 3 kilometre stretch of the island’s revetment, which is a protective slope preventing erosion, has been renewed.
On its southern shoreline between Thorney Bay and the Island Yacht Club, the revetment is needed to break up and absorb the impact of waves hitting the slope and to protect the material making up the core of the embankment.
Sections of the previous revetment had dated back to the 1930s and "desperately" needed replacing, says the Environment Agency.
Operations advisor, James Mason, said:
“We are delighted to have finished the work on the revetment at Canvey Island.
“This project is essential to managing the risk of flooding for thousands of people, homes and businesses.
“We are already seeing the effects of climate change in the UK. We’re working to better protect communities from this risk, with climate change projection built into the design of flood defences, such as here in Canvey Island, to ensure they are fit for the future”.
As well as refurbishing the existing tidal defences, additional enhancements have been made to the Canvey Island shoreline.
As part of the project, new steps to the beach and project information boards were installed.
The surface of the pathway along the landward side of the seawall between Thorney Bay and Chapman Sands was also improved.
Flowering grass seed mixes were planted to improve biodiversity on the defence with rock pools also created to enhance habitats in locations along the foreshore.
Everyone should know their flood risk and sign up for free flood warnings by going to https://www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk or calling Floodline on 0345 988 1188.
To find out more about the Canvey Island southern shoreline revetment project, please visit: Canvey Island southern shoreline revetment project information page.