Moffatt & Nichol is playing a key role in a four-year collaborative project funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to improve understanding of gravel beach and barrier systems.
These environments provide critical functions across the UK, including coastal erosion protection, flood defence, and support for natural habitats.
In partnership with our client and project lead, the British Geological Survey, we are developing advanced models to better understand how these systems respond to climate change, and to improve our ability to manage them effectively.
The study will encompass all gravel beaches and barriers around the UK. Using a combination of field observations and modelling, it will investigate their evolution over the past 20,000 years – a period marked by significant sea level change – and project how they might develop with climate change.
At the heart of the project is the development of a dynamic simulator, led by Moffatt & Nichol, focused on the Cley/Salthouse barrier in Norfolk. This tool will model geomorphological changes, groundwater movement, and shifts in the freshwater and saltwater marshes it protects to the year 2150. It will also help identify the most effective strategies to manage and enhance the resilience and ecological value of this system and others like it.
