Resilient Levees: The impact of changing climate on the performance of UK Flood Embankments

There is no more important challenge in engineering than that presented by climate change. This project aims to establish the vulnerability of the UK levee (flood embankment) network to the impacts of prolonged drought, intense rainfall and ever extreme inundation events. Climate projections indicate wetter winters and warmer, drier summers punctuated by high intensity, short duration rainfall events. It has already been established that these seasonal wet-dry cycles lead to deterioration of earthworks, the most apparent phenomenon being the formation of dessication cracking. The development of cracking networks on levees is a growing threat faced by levee asset owners and the engineering community working to maintain their performance. This project will combine physical experimentation with numerical modelling techniques to better understand the processes which lead to levee failure. The proposes hypothesis that the formation of desiccation cracks and their inundation during high water events leading to reduced effective levee functional height and ultimately, over-topping failure will be tested. The project builds on almost two decades of research at Newcastle University into the impact of climate change on infrastructure slopes and the successful PhD applicant will benefit from being part of a successful and thriving research community working in this exciting and much valued challenge.

Newcastle University is committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.