Design of the sea flood defence scheme

The nature of the seafront at Margate with its varying aspect to the sea, wide sandy beach and historic harbour area make finding a single design solution for the future of flood defence for the town impossible. Instead the design team have developed a scheme which incorporates several different methods of achieving the flood defence standard required.

Work to the Pier

The grade 2 listed Stone Pier at Margate plays a vital part in protecting the Marine Drive area from the full force of waves during storm events and the pier will be strengthened as part of the works. This will involve protection of the foundations of the structure using steel sheet piles and the strengthening of the loose chalk core of the Stone Pier with a cement grout. The visual impact of this work is clearly very important and the solution has been designed carefully to make sure that very little evidence of any works to the Stone Pier will be visible upon completion.

New stepped structure

A major part of the new scheme will be a huge structure centred in the area of the King’s Steps on Marine Drive. This structure will be about 200 metres long and will have a series of wide steps which will start at pavement level and will stretch seaward until they disappear into the sand. This type of structure is called a ‘stepped revetment’ and it works by helping to absorb wave energy during storms so that the waves do not spill over onto the pavement and road and cause flooding. Without such an innovative solution the new sea wall would have had to be much higher to cope with storms over the next 50 years and would have been quite difficult to see over. This solution not only has the huge benefit of removing the need for a high sea wall, it will also provide an excellent public space from which to enjoy views of the beach, sea and Stone Pier.

New sea walls

The scheme will also include the construction of new sea walls to be built along the remainder of Marine Drive and The Parade and for a series of floodgates to be installed which will be closed in the event of a flood warning.

Design team

The scheme has been developed by a multi disciplinary design team consisting of Thanet District Council’s in house coastal engineers working in partnership with engineers from Canterbury City Council. Specialist input was provided by a flood risk management consultant who produced vital computer modelling which was used to steer the direction of the design work. The stepped revetment will be a striking new feature on Margate’s coastline and the need for the structure to integrate well is clear. A landscape architect and project artist were appointed to the design team to help develop a structure which would improve and enhance the local environment and provide a rich new amenity space whilst still performing the important function of a flood defence structure during a storm event.