Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project
Wallasea Island, Essex, UK · 2012-2015 (Phase 1, Jubilee Marsh, opened September 2015; development continued until around 2021) · £70 million
The judgement call
Account-gated at launchA landmark conservation and engineering scheme, the largest of its type in Europe, demonstrating sustainable reuse of waste material from large-scale infrastructure projects. - The project was designed to mitigate against an unmanaged, natural breach of seawalls, which was assessed as a genuine risk. - The creation of new wetland habitats helps compensate for the loss of others elsewhere in the UK due to coastal squeeze. - The project has successfully attracted a diverse range of wildlife and is managed by the RSPB as a nature reserve and visitor attraction. - The use of sluices to manage saline lagoons' water levels and cattle grazing for grass length management are examples of ecological engineering.
Key engineering challenges
Recreating ancient wetland landscapes of mudflats, saltmarsh, lagoons, and pasture to combat climate change threats and coastal flooding. - Transporting 3 million tonnes of excavated material from London by barge, avoiding 150,000 lorry journeys. - Designing intertidal areas with long shallow slopes to allow saltmarsh to adapt to rising sea levels. - Managing the controlled flooding of farmland by breaching existing seawalls. - Creating a stable natural environment that provides habitat for wildlife, particularly wading birds.
Project facts
- Client / owner
- Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB); Crossrail; Environment Agency
- Lead contractor
- BAM Nuttall (engineers)
- Lead designers
- ABPMer, Aecom (engineers)
- Project type
- new build | managed realignment
- Scale
- UK's largest coastal wetland creation project; used 3 million tonnes of excavated material from London's Crossrail tunnels; created a new 115-hectare intertidal area of saltmarsh, islands, and mudflats (Jubilee Marsh); made new land areas including seven artificial islands; bulldozed 300m of seawall to flood farmland; aims to expand by 100 hectares.
- Disciplines
- civil; coastal engineering; environmental; ecological engineering
- Standards & frameworks
- Relevant UK coastal management and environmental conservation policies; aims to create habitats of high value for wildlife.
Sources: "Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project", Rewilding Europe, https://rewildingeurope.com/rew-project/wallasea-island-wild-coast-project/ - "Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project: Ecological Engineering", Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), https://www.ice.org.uk/what-is-civil-engineering/infrastructure-projects/wallasea-island-wild-coast-project - "Wallasea Island Nature Reserve, Essex", RSPB, https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/wallasea-island - "Nature reserve at the heart of Europe's largest coastal...", Inside Ecology, 2025, https://insideecology.com/2025/01/20/nature-reserve-at-the-heart-of-europes-largest-coastal-habitat-restoration-project-to-be-expanded/