Exploring the role of vegetation as a soft engineering method to reduce flooding

Every day at Plymouth I discover more about the world

I’ve always wanted to be a coastal engineer and saw Plymouth’s MSc Coastal Engineering programme as the next step to take to excel in a future career.

Every day on the programme I discover more about the engineering world and challenge myself to learn new things.

The programme has given me the opportunities to discover which area of study I wanted to pursue in my career, in the perfect location – ‘Britain's Ocean City'.

As a thalassophile – a lover of the sea – the city and the programme are the perfect combination. I can move from studying about the sea, by the sea, to hanging out with my friends on a beach after a day of classes.

I urge everyone to study with passion and to always seek out new and interesting ways to gain and develop your knowledge.

The University’s COAST laboratory facilities are very comprehensive and easy to access and the whole process is supported by great staff. Just simply fill out a request form with the details of your project, discuss your requirements and you will soon be beginning the magic of your research. 

The COAST lab has formed a huge part of my MSc dissertation project, which will go on to influence my career and hopefully benefit the environment.

Reducing the risk of floods with vegetation

For my MSc dissertation, I decided to focus on a series of laboratory experiments focused on different types of emergent vegetations, such as rigid, flexible and semi-flexible vegetation, and its effects on wave attenuation. 

The objectives of this study were to analyse the wave heights on the upstream and downstream regions based on the different vegetation types and densities, and to study the flow of debris for different vegetation types.

This project is contributing to a larger study on compound flooding to coastal communities. A compound flood is when different climatic extremes occur simultaneously or in close succession, significantly escalating the impacts to the environment, built infrastructure and society.

Coastal communities can be the most vulnerable communities to these flood hazards and other natural disasters. This project might be implemented as a soft engineering method to reduce flood hazards to coastal communities by identifying suitable vegetation types and densities.

A wave of tests in the lab

This project required the use of the COAST laboratory’s sediment wave flumes.

I used the 20m hydraulic channel for the preliminary test and the 35m flume to run the actual project.

After I graduate my ambition is to become a coastal engineer who focuses on sustainability. As an engineer I will be able to help change the world with inventions and solutions that affect everyone's lives. 

Working with the COAST lab on the programme has been instrumental in helping me move closer to securing this ambition.