Eastbourne marine wastewater treatment works aimed to be invisible
The Eastbourne Marine Treatment Works aimed to provide a sophisticated solution for wastewater treatment in a popular tourist area in the UK.
Given their location on the beachfront of a popular seaside holiday town, the new treatment facilities were designed to operate completely underground below sea-level and out of sight. The geotechnical and civil design response to the major engineering challenges this presented involved the construction of deep structures in soft ground under high groundwater conditions.
The innovative design thinking extended to the visible above ground structure, which was creatively designed to resemble a Napoleonic Redoubt Fortress, as mirrored along the South Coast of the UK.
To remain sensitive to the surrounding area, local inhabitants and the growing tourism industry, the plant included a sophisticated ventilation and odour control system, designed to operate under a ‘hazardous area classification’ to achieve the very stringent odour standards required. An air movement of 250,000 m2/hr was designed to pass through the works and discharge from the highest point of the building.
Napoleonic Redoubt Fortress above ground structure design
Construction works
Scale model showing extensive underground civil engineering works
Coastal area and urban surroundings
Underground treatment works