Flagship environmental project, designed and built by JBA Bentley, celebrates official opening

The Outstrays Managed Realignment Scheme, at the Humber Estuary in Yorkshire, has celebrated its official public opening. UK environmental engineering company JBA Bentley played a significant role in the design and construction of the project, which will safeguard the region from climate change and protect a vast range of species for many years to come.

The opening event welcomed key stakeholders and project partners to the local parish hall at Welwick, where formal speeches were given by representatives from the Environment Agency, Associated British Ports, and the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, as well as the MP for Beverley and Holderness, Graham Stuart.

Representatives from the key project partners at Welwick parish hall

Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency, said:

“JBA Bentley – well done. You’ve delivered a fantastic project despite terrible weather and storms for two years. You have been a fundamental and wonderful part of local engagement, immersing yourself in the community and making yourselves welcome with the folk round here. It’s not easy and you’ve done a cracking job.”

Following the speeches, the group travelled to the site of the new 5.5km flood embankment where a bird hide has been installed, to officially declare it open. The scheme is an impressive feat of environmental engineering, with the construction of the new embankment, together with a breach in the existing one, creating over 170 hectares of intertidal habitat (saltmarsh and mudflats) for overwintering, breeding and passage bird species. Additionally, 75 hectares of wet grassland, with varying pool depths, are providing feeding areas and protection for waterfowl and wading birds. Over 100 different bird species have been recorded across the site since construction began in 2020.

JBA Bentley was able to win all of the embankment material from within the intertidal habitat area and use the less viable soils to form sacrificial wave dissipation bunds. This approach eliminated the need for over 2000 trucks movements through local villages and eliminated the import of 34,500 tonnes of rock armour, a saving of over 25,000 tonnes of carbon over the 60-year design life of the embankment.

Further increasing biodiversity, more than 11,000 native shrubs and tree seedlings were planted, as well as 700 metres of species-rich hedge – going beyond the scheme’s required planting target. This has allowed pockets of woodland and hedgerows to be connected, creating corridors for wildlife. The project will also benefit surrounding communities, infrastructure and businesses by increasing flood resilience, whilst public access to the site has been enhanced with the installation of new car parks, bird hides, a designated bridleway and horse-friendly gates, and information boards.

Several attendees at the opening event were also able to visit the new, carbon-efficient Skeffling pumping station - one of two adjacent pumping stations that JBA Bentley have been awarded a contract to upgrade, following successful delivery of the managed realignment scheme. The upgrades will enhance the catchment’s standard of protection and better manage flood risk for local residents, businesses and farmland, whilst improving eel passage.

Works at the site of the new Skeffling pumping station

Nick Lister, Director at JBA Bentley, said: 

“JBA Bentley is proud to have collaborated closely with two of our key clients - the Environment Agency and Associated British Ports - to deliver this important managed realignment scheme at The Outstrays.

“As a fully integrated design-and-build business, our engineering, environmental, and construction teams worked with a range of partners and stakeholders to provide the detailed design and implementation of more than 175ha of intertidal habitat and supporting freshwater grassland.

“This flagship project - which will ensure that the unique environment of the Humber Estuary is preserved for future generations - has provided great opportunities for social value, carbon reduction and innovative flood embankment construction.”

Saltmarsh and mudflat areas of new habitat

The scheme not only enhances flood protection for local communities and creates valuable habitats but also plays a pivotal role in broader flood risk management and future port development on the Humber, by providing compensatory habitat to enable wider investment in the region. As a result, thousands of properties, businesses, industries, and areas of land around the Humber now benefit from greater flood resilience, and opportunities for future growth and investment.

To find out more about the project and the open day, see the Environment Agency’s official press release.