Most recently, the most prominent coastal investigation study has begun alongside the Welsh coast. Incorporating everything from mathematical modelling, the monitoring of water quality and field surveys, the study exists to provide the DCWW and Natural Resources Wales with the knowledge essential to better protecting Welsh coastal waters, not solely today, but tomorrow and into the future.
The study itself, which is expected to be finished by the close of 2017’s first quarter, will see members of the DCWW Capital Delivery Alliance pursuing a schedule of works across 49 Welsh coastal sites as part of a project totalling in at a value of circa £8m. For the study, members of the alliance will create computerised models of Welsh coastal waters, then carrying out studies on bathing as well as of shellfish water to better assess how and where investment will be needed to sustain, or improve, water quality levels along the Welsh coast.
Although the alliance already maintains considerable in-house expertise, to best ensure accuracy and proficiency in the study, partnerships have also been made with specialists in the field, including water consultant, Intertek, as well as APEM, Fugro and CREH to assist in the delivery of the study.
As explained by alliance member, Mott MacDonald Bentley’s Project Manager, Mark Dives, the project will see a variety of innovative techniques for the survey as well as some of the latest specialist coastal survey technology ever used. This will include state of the art modelling and microbial tracers, pollutant transport and the simulation of coastal dynamics.
He explained: “The sheer scale of the task in hand – to gather a huge amount of historic data to feed the study and drive a substantial survey programme to gather new data – in the time available will provide a big challenge.” Yet, despite the challenges laid out, Mark Dives remains sure that the alliance will be able to complete the study in a safe and efficient manner as well as find a sustainable outcome which can benefit both customers of the DCWW and the wider environment.
