Originally Posted by
celle
I can't help wondering how the huge, proposed airport in the Thames Estuary would've fared during the latest storms, when the UK had its biggest tidal surge since the massive East Coast floods in 1953.
FWIW the surge at Sheerness was just 80 CM - there was no coastal flooding on Sheppey and the sea defenses built after 1953 held. For whatever reason the surge just wasn't that great here. Further down the coast it was different though and at Dover it was the highest surge on record.
Nonetheless I'm sure that if they were to build Boris Island it'd be designed with surges in mind. I'm sure the runways etc would all be 20 feet or more above sea level! (The Environment Agency's coastal flood warnings seem to apply to places 18 feet above sea level or lower).