Beach Erosion in the Rives Manche (BERM)

A project funded under Interreg II with matching funds coming from the relevant local authorities aimed to investigate the supply and depletion of shingle on 'Rives Manche' beaches under present day management regimes, and to determine the sustainability of the beaches in a period of rising sea level (http://www.geog.sussex.ac.uk/BERM/index.html). [An Interreg II programme funded by the European Union (Priority E: Environmental Conservation and Enhancement. Measure 9: Information, Prevention and Awareness)]. The study was undertaken by the Coastal Research Group, University of Sussex and the Université de Rouen and Université de Caen. It's aim was to help determine the extent to which contemporary shingle beaches of Rives-Manche were depleted and assess the risks that this will pose for the region in the face of rising sea levels.

General conclusions: The study BERM (Beach Erosion in the Rives Manche) concluded that overall flint production on the English side of the Channel amounts to only 4,610m³ per annum and may reflect the relatively low cliff heights and the lower flint content of the chalk (as compared to the French coast where the parallel study took place). The major source of flint on the English side is located between Cuckmere Haven and Birling Gap, which is towards the east. Limited observations from qualitative air photo interpretation suggest that beaches bound on the updrift side by engineering structures (such as the Seaford breakwater) have gained in volume over the past 26 years. However, cliff fall analyses along the French coast suggests an increase in the number and frequency of cliff falls since the 1970s following the construction of groynes and jetties and associated reductions in shingle movement. [Some of the implications of this work in relation to managing sea cliffs is included in the Guide "Coastal Habitat Restoration, towards good practice".]

INTERREG III Project Beaches at Risk (BAR).

The two English Partners are the University of Sussex and East Sussex County Council, aim to continue and expand the work carried out through BERM on beach sediment budgets and the East Sussex Coastal Biodiversity Project carried out under Interreg II. Further information available at http://www.geog.sussex.ac.uk/BAR/.

[A study of sediment budgets at Spey Bay (Annex 08) in northeast Scotland takes a more wide-ranging view including sediment derived from the hinterland and the relationship between coastal processes and human coastal defence activities.]