The Humber Estuary is one of the most morphologically complex and variable estuaries in the UK, with much of the estuary subject to nature conservation designations for its marine and intertidal habitats. The marine licensing regime requires robust evidence of likely effects on the marine environment before consenting marine infrastructure in the estuary.
ABPmer was commissioned to undertake an estuarine hydrodynamic and coastal process assessment of the Cruise Hull Project to inform a feasibility study and the start of the marine licence process.
To inform the assessment, our in-house specialists combined hydrodynamic and sediment plume modelling with detailed baseline understanding of the estuarine hydrodynamics and sediment transport in the area. ABPmer has been undertaking studies and maritime development projects in the Humber Estuary for over 50 years.
To calibrate the models, ABPmer conducted bathymetric, hydrodynamic and water quality surveys. Although regular bathymetry surveys are conducted in the area for safety of navigation purposes, a further survey was conducted for this project, using the survey vessel Humber Sounder to achieve greater coverage over the shallow banks.
An Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler was mobilised to a survey vessel, and transects were run across the width of the estuary. In addition, sediment samples were acquired with a Van Veen grab sampler, and water samples with a Niskin bottle. The sediment (for particle size analysis) and water samples (for total suspended sediment) were analysed in our laboratory.
ABPmer's oceanographers deliver a comprehensive understanding of physical processes for marine projects and developments through the collection and processing of current flow, wave and water quality characteristics. Learn more about our oceanographic survey capability.