About the river, estuary and coastal resilient infrastructure testing flume (REAL)
Critical infrastructure (for example, bridges, dams, flood defences, ports, and offshore wind farms) built in river, coastal and marine environments are subject to the complex interactions of hydrodynamic loading and geotechnical effects.
Waves, rivers and tidal currents can induce dynamic structural forces, sediment and geotechnical responses. Over time, this can lead to severe damage or failure.
Changing patterns in the climate, as well as changes in infrastructure use, can compound these destabilising factors. This increases the complexity of modelling scenarios and predicting results.
Despite their importance for critical infrastructure, these interactions suffer from a lack of understanding, which may lead to unnecessary costs or preventable failure.
The River, Estuary and Coastal resilient infrastructure testing flume (REAL) is a cutting-edge experimental facility, designed to transform research in submerged infrastructure. It enables testing of multiple interacting hydrodynamic and geotechnical phenomena under realistic conditions. The facility will support our work to close the knowledge gap, making infrastructure safer, more reliable, and more cost effective.
It will feature:
- 22m tiltable rectangular channel
- water pumping and storage systems
- wave generation and absorption
- sediment feeding and recirculation
- instruments for measuring water velocities in detail
All systems will be fully integrated and automated to simulate real-world conditions with exceptional accuracy. The research enabled by REAL will lead to novel approaches in future infrastructure design and construction that is both resilient and cost-effective.
REAL is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It will be the largest facility of its kind in Europe, used primarily for academic research with access available to external users and/or industry.
The facility is part of our wider hydraulics facilities, and will support research in:
- water and environmental engineering
- river and coastal engineering
- marine energy
We are currently building this unique facility, which will be complete in early 2026.
Please contact us for further information, bookings, research proposals and project partnerships.
