River, estuary and coastal resilient infrastructure testing flume (REAL)

About the river, estuary and coastal resilient infrastructure testing flume (REAL)

Critical infrastructure — such as bridges, dams, flood barriers, ports, and offshore wind farms — built in rivers, coastal areas, and marine environments face powerful natural forces. These include water currents, waves, and shifting ground conditions.

Over time, these forces can cause damage or even lead to failure. As climate patterns change and infrastructure is used in new ways, predicting how these systems will respond is becoming more difficult.

Despite their importance, the interactions between water and ground forces are still not fully understood. Our research aims to close this gap, making infrastructure safer, more reliable, and more cost-effective.

Our 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 phenomena under realistic conditions.

We are currently building this unique facility, which will be up and running early 2026. The facility will include:

  • large tilting flume
  • 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 new approaches in designing infrastructure that is both resilient and cost-effective.

The flume is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It will be the largest facility of its kind in Europe. 

REAL will be used primarily for academic research, with access also available to external users.

The facility is part of our hydraulics facilities and will support research in:

  • water and environmental engineering
  • river and coastal engineering
  • marine energy

Please contact us for further information, bookings, research proposals and project partnerships.

Technical specification

REAL flume

  • dimensions: length 22m x width 1.8m x depth 1.1m
  • maximum flowrate: 1.4m3s-1
  • angle: -1.0 to 3.0°
  • sediment transport up to 9kgs-1

The flume is equipped with wave study generator paddles for in-flow wave generation up and downstream.

The side walls and sections of the base are glass, designed for Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA).

A crane runs the entire length of the flume to support model construction and initial sediment setup. An Archimedes screw dewaters recirculated sediment which is then fed into a conveyor for steady reintroduction into the system.

Connect

Contact us

Please email us if you have any questions:

Technical information about the facility:
Phoebe Pellew, Experimental Officer (phoebe.pellew@soton.ac.uk)

Research opportunities:
Dr Gustavo De Almeida (g.deAlmeida@soton.ac.uk)

Industry enquiries:
Dr Gustavo De Almeida (g.deAlmeida@soton.ac.uk)
Dr Luke Myers (L.E.Myers@soton.ac.uk)

Lab facilities

B214 Engineering Building, Future Towns Innovation Hub, Southampton Science Park, Chilworth, SO167NP
We’re open Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00 UK time