Major flood repair helped by remote control boat 10 February 2014

A remote control boat equipped with a SonTek M9 acoustic doppler profiler (ADP) has been used with HydroSurveyor software to create a three-dimensional map of a submerged flood barrier, damaged in last December's storms.

Extreme weather conditions and the highest tide for 150 years resulted in serious damage to a flood bank at Seal Sands, near Billingham, in the North East.

A hole some 60 to 80 meters across was scoured from the barrier and enormous quantities of seawater flooded into an area of marshland, also threatening industrial assets.

Initially, military helicopters were recruited to drop boulders into the hole, but it soon became clear that greater volumes were required so a temporary road was constructed along the barrier for delivery tipper trucks.

However, the Environment Agency's Chris Train explains that proper repair was hampered because the extent of the damage was not visible, even at low tide.

Traditionally, survey work would have been conducted from boats, using gauging poles, but the Agency now employs remote control units, so operators can remain safely on the bank.

The M9 ADP, on-board the Agency's ARC-Boat, is a five-beam depth sounding and velocity profiling device that scans the bed as the boat is guided across the water's surface.

"We were able to conduct a complete survey during about one hour of slack water at the top of the tide," explains Train A

"The HydroSurveyor software created a superb map of the damage and demonstrated that the hole was significantly deeper than we had anticipated, so this data was essential in helping us to plan the remediation work."

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Environment Agency

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