Case study:Longbridge West

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Location: 52° 23' 47.55" N, 1° 59' 29.13" W

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Project overview

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Status	Complete
Project web site
Themes	Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Social benefits, Spatial planning, Water quality, Urban
Country	England
Main contact forename	Phoebe
Main contact surname	Ryding
Main contact user ID	User:PhoebeRyding
Contact organisation	PJA
Contact organisation web site	http://https://pja.co.uk/
Partner organisations	St Modwen Developments Ltd, ACS Ltd, OBriens Ltd & Wakemans
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

File:Photo of Progress on River Rea Renaturalisation Works - March 2022

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Project summary

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The River Rea, and Callow Brook tributary, flows through the original site of the MG Rover Factory West Works in Longbridge, Birmingham, in a formerly hard-engineered, canalized and culverted channel. In 2005, following the collapse of MG Rover, St Modwen Developments Ltd. purchased the former factory site with the aim of creating a sustainable place for people to live and work. Core to this aim, was a commitment to the restoration and re-naturalisation of the River Rea and Callow Brook. In 2008, the first factory buildings situated on the former West Works Site were demolished which included daylighting the majority of the River Rea. The watercourse through this area then remained largely un-altered until works progressed in this area of the West Works Site in 2019. A two-phase approach has been undertaken to re-naturalise and restore the River Rea and Callow Brook through the West Works Site. The first phase of the re-naturalisation comprised approximately 200m of the River Rea, which was constructed offline in 2019-2020. In the following two years, the second phase, comprising the remaining 750m of the River Rea (an Environment Agency Main River) and 100m of its tributary, the Callow Brook (an ordinary watercourse), have been restored in a two-stage, green-blue corridor offering biodiversity enhancements, amenity space and online flood mitigation storage. Both phases of work comprised extensive removal of hard-engineered structures lining the existing banks and bed of the watercourses (which included a concrete river bank and bed, sheet piling, bag work, a number of derelict former bridge crossings and brick walls) to enable construction of a two-stage channel with provision of online attenuation storage. These works have also created new public open spaces within the adjacent River Park, with a new pedestrian/cycle crossing and separate vehicular crossing to enable a sustainable green link adjacent to the river. In addition, the online attenuation storage generates a significant reduction in existing flood risk for the downstream areas of Longbridge Town Centre. With regard to ecological enhancement, a gravel bed integrating riffles and pools has been constructed, complimented by a diverse variety of native planting throughout the two-stage channel, with three stilling pools with varying wet-dry nature to provide different habitats for wildlife. Furthermore, Natural Flood Management (NFM) measures have been embedded, with ‘leaky dam’ features to ‘slow the flow’ within the flashy, urban catchment and provide erosion protection.

Monitoring surveys and results

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Throughout the construction, weekly design team meetings were held with the whole project team and twice weekly site walkovers were undertaken with both engineering and landscaping specialists. This ensured that the wider collaborative vision for the renaturalisation of the watercourse was achieved. Further to this, regular calls with both the Environment Agency and Birmingham City Council, in their role as Lead Local Flood Authority, were undertaken; with the Environment Agency undertaking site walkovers throughout the construction of the river works to ensure any further design considerations could be realised prior to completion. Throughout the design and construction of the works, priority has been given to realising the multifunctional benefits for both the river corridor itself and surrounding communities. At the heart of the restoration is the creation of new habitat, which has been monitoring and dynamically adjusted throughout the construction. The design principles of the river corridor allow for natural variation and adjustment of the watercourse, thereby ensuring longevity in the habitats created.

Lessons learnt

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Image gallery

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Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Edit the catchment and subcatchment details (affects all case studies in this subcatchment) Catchment River basin district Humber River basin Tame Anker and Mease Subcatchment River name River Rea from Source to Griffins Brook Area category 10 - 100 km² Area (km2) Maximum altitude category 200 - 500 m Maximum altitude (m) 299299 m <br />0.299 km <br />29,900 cm <br /> Dominant geology Calcareous Ecoregion Great Britain Dominant land cover Suburban Waterbody ID GB104028042510 Site Edit site Name Longbridge West WFD water body codes GB104028042510 WFD (national) typology WFD water body name Rea source to Bourn Brook Water Body Pre-project morphology Reference morphology Desired post project morphology Heavily modified water body Yes National/international site designation Local/regional site designations Protected species present No Invasive species present No Species of interest Dominant hydrology Dominant substrate River corridor land use Urban Average bankfull channel width category Average bankfull channel width (m) Average bankfull channel depth category Average bankfull channel depth (m) Mean discharge category Mean annual discharge (m3/s) Average channel gradient category Average channel gradient Average unit stream power (W/m2) Project background Edit project background Reach length directly affected (m) 200200 m <br />0.2 km <br />20,000 cm <br /> Project started 2019 Works started Works completed Project completed Total cost category Total cost (k€) Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources Cost for project phases Phase cost category cost exact (k€) Lead organisation Contact forename Contact surname Investigation and design Stakeholder engagement and communication Works and works supervision Post-project management and maintenance Monitoring Reasons for river restoration Edit reasons for restoration Mitigation of a pressure Hydromorphology Biology Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Floodplain / River corridor Planform / Channel pattern Other Non-structural measures Management interventions Social measures (incl. engagement) Other Monitoring Hydromorphological quality elements Edit Hydromorphological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Biological quality elements Edit biological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Physico-chemical quality elements Edit Physico-chemical quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic Edit Other responses Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Monitoring documents Upload monitoring documents Additional documents and videos Upload additional documents Additional links and references Edit links and references Link Description Supplementary Information Edit Supplementary Information