"With our sustainable trenchless approach to rehabilitate sewers, I’m helping to improve social outcomes for communities." James, Water, Belfast
Mansfield: designing the UK's largest sustainable drainage scheme
In Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, a pilot project is rethinking how we manage surface water flooding — a growing threat made worse by climate change and urban development.
The Mansfield Sustainable Flood Resilience project is the UK’s largest retrofit scheme of its kind, with hundreds of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) like rain gardens, bioswales, detention basins and tree pits being installed across the town.
When complete, the network of blue-green infrastructure will capture millions of litres of water in the event of a severe storm, protecting homes and businesses from flooding. The project is also enhancing public spaces, with new green features throughout the historic town centre.
Severn Trent is investing £76 million in the scheme, working alongside Mansfield District Council and Nottinghamshire County Council.
Collaborating to deliver at pace
As lead design partner and strategic advisors to Severn Trent, we developed the catchment strategy and used hydraulic modelling to select SuDS locations and inform both outline and detailed design.
Both the speed and scale of this project demanded effective collaboration between teams to ensure timely delivery. For example, we worked with Severn Trent and Arup to develop a SuDS calculation tool which determines the m³ benefit from each intervention ensuring that they could be built quickly.
A blueprint for urban climate resilience
The first phase of interventions has already been put to the test during recent storms, helping to reduce flooding in known hotspots.
With the UK government’s announcement to mandate SuDS on all new housing developments in England from 2024, Mansfield serves as a fantastic example of how blue-green infrastructure can be used at scale to increase urban resilience in the face of a rapidly changing climate.
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Degree classification: Minimum 2:1 or equivalent
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