Case study:Inchewan Burn Bed restoration

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Location: 56° 33' 23.82" N, 3° 34' 46.70" W

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Project overview

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Status	Complete
Project web site
Themes	Fisheries, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology
Country	Scotland
Main contact forename	Nick
Main contact surname	Elbourne
Main contact user ID	User:NickRRC
Contact organisation	River Restoration Centre
Contact organisation web site	http://www.therrc.co.uk
Partner organisations
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

The restored Inchewan Burn

Project summary

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During the creation of a bypass by the river, the burn was engineered by encasing it in gabion baskets to provide structural protection for the roadway piers. Reno mattresses were also used to prevent down-cutting by the burn. In the high-energy environment of the burn, the reno mattresses' protective PVC layer was eroded and the galvanised coating of the mattresses exposed, causing them to split open and the withheld material released. The remaining wire became a hazard for fish, snaring many. Additionally, the downstream gabions would often block surface water in low-flow conditions, with water simply flowing 'through' them in the gaps in between. Accordingly, fish migration was often blocked.

The restoration saw the removal of the reno mattresses and the introduction of boulders to create pools, diversify flow and collect sediment. These boulders were set in concrete to prevent their movement in high flows.

Monitoring surveys and results

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Lessons learnt

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Catchment and subcatchment

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(affects all case studies in this subcatchment)

Catchment

River basin district	Tay
River basin	Inchewan

Subcatchment

River name	Inchewan Burn
Area category
Area (km2)
Maximum altitude category
Maximum altitude (m)
Dominant geology	Siliceous
Ecoregion	Great Britain
Dominant land cover	Urban, Woodland
Waterbody ID

Site

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Name	Birnam
WFD water body codes
WFD (national) typology
WFD water body name
Pre-project morphology	Single channel, Straight, Embanked, Revetments
Reference morphology	Step-pool, Pool-riffle, Single channel
Desired post project morphology
Heavily modified water body	Yes
National/international site designation
Local/regional site designations
Protected species present	Yes
Invasive species present	No
Species of interest	atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
Dominant hydrology	Quick run-off
Dominant substrate	Bedrock
River corridor land use	Urban, Woodland
Average bankfull channel width category	5 - 10 m
Average bankfull channel width (m)
Average bankfull channel depth category	0.5 - 2 m
Average bankfull channel depth (m)
Mean discharge category	1 - 10 m³/s
Mean annual discharge (m3/s)
Average channel gradient category	0.01 - 0.1
Average channel gradient
Average unit stream power (W/m2)

Project background

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Reach length directly affected (m)	100 m0.1 km <br />10,000 cm <br />
Project started	2007/09/01
Works started
Works completed	2007/11/01
Project completed
Total cost category	50 - 100 k€
Total cost (k€)	100 k€100,000 € <br />
Benefit to cost ratio
Funding sources	SEPA, Perth Council, SNH

Cost for project phases

Phase	cost category	cost exact (k€)	Lead organisation	Contact forename	Contact surname
Investigation and design			Perth Council	John	Monteith
Stakeholder engagement and communication			Perth Council	John	Monteith
Works and works supervision			Perth Council
Post-project management and maintenance			Perth Council
Monitoring			Perth Council	John	Monteith

Reasons for river restoration

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Mitigation of a pressure
Hydromorphology	Quantity & dynamics of flow, continuity of sediment transport, Flow velocities
Biology	Restore free passage for fish and promote fish spawning (ie. salmonids).
Physico-chemical
Other reasons for the project	Landscape enhancement

Measures

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Structural measures
Bank/bed modifications	Removal of artificial wire/stone bed. Replicated upstream boulder bed step/pool sequence
Floodplain / River corridor	Timber extraction of non-native conifer plantation. Planting of native broadleaf tree species
Planform / Channel pattern	In-channel placement of boulders to provide flow diversity
Other
Non-structural measures
Management interventions
Social measures (incl. engagement)
Other	Local school children helped to plant the native broadleaf tree species

Monitoring

Hydromorphological quality elements

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quality elements

Element	When monitored		Type of monitoring		Control site used	Result
	Before measures	After measures	Qualitative	Quantitative

Biological quality elements

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quality elements

Element	When monitored		Type of monitoring		Control site used	Result
	Before measures	After measures	Qualitative	Quantitative
Fish: Abundance	No	No	No	No	No	Improvement

Physico-chemical quality elements

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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

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Element	When monitored		Type of monitoring		Control site used	Result
	Before measures	After measures	Qualitative	Quantitative

Monitoring documents

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Image gallery

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The restored burn

The degraded reno mattresses

Additional documents and videos

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Additional links and references

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Link	Description
http://www.therrc.co.uk/rrc case studies1.php?csid=52	River Restoration Centre Case Study
http://www.therrc.co.uk/case studies/sepa article inchewan%20burn.pdf	SEPA article
http://www.therrc.co.uk/2012%20Conference/Outputs/Gilvear%202%20Final.pdf	Inchewan Burn Post Project Appraisal: David Gilvear's presentation from the RRC 2012 Conference

Supplementary Information

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RRC visit notes (2008):

The new bed has enabled free passage to the upper burn and has had a dramatic impact on the visual ‘eyesore’ previously viewed by users of the popular pathway. The construction of a step-pool bedrock and boulder bed has added stability to the channel and now allows a much freer movement of bed sediment.

The concept of needing to anchor the ‘key’ boulders into the engineered bed but burying this structural element under 500mm+ of placed material allowed concerns over structural stability, morphology and aesthetics to be integrated into a common solution.