Foulness Island drainage scheme

The brief

A civil engineer needed accurate levels across Foulness Island to design a drainage scheme. The design depended on knowing the height of the land, the line and level of the dykes, and the depth and shape of the channels that carry water off the island.

How we surveyed it

We set up survey control with GNSS RTK and used total stations for the detail. Land and dyke levels were picked up on foot, and the channels and water bodies were surveyed with hydrographic equipment so the engineer had bed levels as well as water levels. A drone flight gave the design team up-to-date aerial photography of the whole area.

Site challenges

Foulness is an MOD site, so every visit ran to the range’s access arrangements. The island is crossed by a large number of channels and bodies of water, which shaped how we moved around and how we planned each day. The work was done in cold, exposed conditions on open marshland.

What the client received

Hydrographic and topographical drawings on a common datum, ready for drainage design, plus the drone photography for reference.