Redundant flat-bottomed barges now providing Essex estuary habitat for roosting shorebirds

                                       

New habitat for shorebirds - the three flat-bottomed barges (photo: National Trust)

THREE decommissioned barges have been sunk in the Blackwater Estuary in Essex to help protect Northey Island against rising sea levels.

This multi-partner initiative initiative, led by the National Trust, also aims to slow the loss of saltmarsh and provide a roosting habitat for wetland bird species  such as Redshank, Curlew, Lapwing, Little Tern and Avocet.

Once used to transport building materials, coal and food from the Port of London, the redundant barges have spent more than 30 years moored in Essex. 

Measuring between 20 and 32 metres long, they now sit on the inter-tidal mudflats of the estuary creating a new land mass on the edge of the existing saltmarsh at Northey Island.

Says Katy Gilchrist, Coastal Project Manager for the National Trust: “This is the ultimate act of marine recycling - transforming retired industrial vessels into a sanctuary for wildlife. 

"We’re basically turning history into habitat, and as far as we know, no one has attempted anything quite like this before. 

"Holes were cut into the hulls to sink the vessels and they were then filled with sediment, mostly mud, to weigh them down to secure them. 

"Once the island is fully established, with gravel on top, it will sit safely above the highest tides to offer a safe refuge for some declining bird species" which are in decline.” 

The equivalent of  three Olympic swimming pools' sediment is being used to fill and surround the barges before the final gravel surface is added. 

Nigel Cardy of Landbreach Ltd, the specialist contractors carrying out the engineering work, comments: "I have been working on the river for more than 50 years and been involved in some interesting jobs, but this one is a bit special as it ticks so many boxes.

"It makes good use of the old barges, helps keep the channel clear in the Maldon Harbour area and also creates a new habitat for estuary birds.

"Plus river users benefit from the dredging." 

Northey Island is open to the public from April to September and closed in winter to protect overwintering birds. 

More information can be found at: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/northey-island