Environmental Enhancement of Infrastructure
Newlyn
Newlyn, Cornwall, United Kingdom Implementing nature-inclusive design to deliver multiple benefits. Situated on the shores of Mount’s Bay in southwest England, Newlyn’s heavily developed coastline relies on hard seawalls and breakwaters to manage flood risk and has limited foreshore space to implement nature-based solutions, such as dune restoration. With a fixed line of hard defenses competing with sea levels at the cost of intertidal habitat, innovation to protect coastal communities and biodiversity is needed. The Newlyn Coastal Research and Development project, a partnership between the Environment Agency and Kier and Atkins, trialed 88 eco-armor units around the existing breakwater to investigate the ability of this innovative technology to enhance intertidal biodiversity while fulfilling its primary function as coastal armor. This pilot was among the first to use the technology, typically used in moderate and subtidal environments, in an intertidal, high-energy setting. Four suppliers were used: Exo Engineering, ECOncrete, ARC Marine, and JP Concrete. The low-carbon element of the concrete mixes saved 41 tonnes of embodied carbon in material alone compared to standard CEM I ordinary Portland cement mix concrete units. The project received the Concrete Society’s Devon & Cornwall Region Sustainable Concrete Award in 2022 for its innovative practices.
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