Environmentally Sensitive Habitant Calls for Innovative Thinking Assignment

Environmentally Sensitive Habitant Calls for Innovative Thinking - Assignment Example In the past years, erosion has compromised the stability of the river meanders that resulted in â€Å"numerous slip failures in the river banks and of the flood defense embarkments.† The unstable river banks now possess hazards to the residents of the area as well as to those boats and crafts navigating through the river. Undertaking the riverbank stabilization project for Darford Creek is Team Van Oord4 under project Manager EC Harris. Team Van Oord shall work closely with ARUP5, the designer of the project. The task of the company is to â€Å"maintain the integrity of the flood defense embankments along two sections of the west bank†6 and at the same time provide for environmental measures and enhancements to product the sensitive habitat of the Creek area. As a form of habitat enhancement, Team Van Oord creates an engineered salt marsh habitat. The total budget for the project amounts to  £ 3.6 million. The construction project is good for 60 weeks. The construction is under the supervision of the Environment Agency. To stabilize the flood embankments, the contractors need to install a combination of steel sheet piling and timber brushwood faggots. According to the design of the project, the brushwood faggots shall be placed in front of the piling and supported by brushwood stakes. The general idea of this design is that the current of the river will bring about silt which could be captured and trapped in between the brushwood. The trapped silt will eventually accumulate to a certain degree and bury the brushwood faggots. Once the brushwood faggots are completely buried under the silt and sediments, it will become part of the flood embankment system and at the same time create a new salt marsh habitat. The project is deemed as a long term solution to the river bank erosion problem as well as aid in the restoration and protection of the endangered habitat.