Crossrail Sustainability: Sea wall breach at Wallasea Island

A landmark environmental project made possible due to a unique partnership between Crossrail and the RSPB reached a significant milestone this weekend.
Wallasea Island Wild Coast project, located eight miles north of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, aims to transform 670 hectares of farmland, an area about 2.5 times the size of the City of London, back into the coastal marshland it once was some 400 years ago.
Over three million tonnes of excavated material from Europe’s biggest infrastructure project, Crossrail, has been used to raise part of the island by an average of 1.5m, creating lagoons and other wildlife-friendly features and protecting these areas with new sea walls. This weekend, the first phase of the project was completed when the new sea walls of ‘Cell 1’ were successfully breached to allow for tidal flow into the marshland.
Four hundred years ago there were 30,000 hectares of intertidal salt marsh along the Essex coast. Now there are just 2,500 hectares. Intertidal salt marsh is a crucial wildlife habitat for a wide variety of plants, invertebrates and birds, and acts as an effective sea defence for local communities.
Wetland restoration began on Wallasea in 2006 when sea walls were breached on the northern edge of the island. By 2025, the RSPB’s Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project plans to have created 148 hectares of mudflats, 192 hectares of salt marsh, and 76 acres of shallow saline lagoons. Around eight miles of coastal walks and cycle routes will allow people to get closer to the island’s spectacular wildlife.
Find out more about Crossrail's involvement in the Wallasea Island project here: www.crossrail.c...
Video released in 2015