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The River Witham scheme, carried out over five years, sets a standard for flood risk management that is technically, economically and environmentally viable.
Thirty kilometres of river defences across the low-lying fens have been improved, minimising the risk of flooding to large areas of the fens and some 3,000 properties.
Flexibility of approach allowed each of 56 sites to be treated individually. This provided opportunities for value engineering and environmental improvements at each site and also maximised the use of local and recycled materials. Wherever possible, locally extracted clay was used, transported by river barges to reduce fuel consumption, vehicle emissions and local road congestion. The pits created from excavation were turned into irrigation reservoirs.
Innovative solutions were found to overcome challenges at specific sites - for example, bales of used car tyres as filling material. Care was also taken to protect archaeology: high-risk sites had a topsoil strip by archaeological consultants several months before works started.
The judges said: 'This fen protection contract took five years and ended with a delighted client'.