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Sea level is rising across the UK and this is expected to accelerate and to increase coastal flood risk over the 21st century. Southampton is one of the busiest and most important national ports, but coastal flooding has not been studied extensively before. This dissertation aims to investigate the likelihood of coastal flooding in Southampton during the 21st century with and without the effect of sea-level rise using the ‘bath-tub’ and LISFLOOD-FP methods. Sensitivity of LISFLOOD-FP and discussion of datasets and methodology are performed to estimate uncertainty in LISFLOOD-FP simulations for Southampton. At present, flooding ‘hotspots’ are located in Priory Road, Millbank, the Cross-house area, Riverside Park, Woodmill Lane, Industrial Park (Bitterne Manor), Weston Shore and The Test Nature Reserve (commercial, industrial areas and open spaces). 1 in 250-year and 1 in 1000-year events could cause deep flooding on a small scale at Millbank, Weston Shore and Test Lane according to LISFLOOD-FP simulations. Under sea-level rise, extreme water levels will be higher and occur more frequently. For Southampton the return periods of extreme water levels may decrease by about ten times for a 0.2m rise in sea level. Future coastal floodplains significantly expand on the west side of the River under 0.4m sea-level rise, and in the Docks with 0.4-1.0m sea-level rise during 1 in 250 year event. A preliminary evaluation on the impact of flooding on coastal infrastructure is made. LISFLOOD-FP results for the 250-year event show approximately 500 and 1,000 buildings could be located in floodplains for 2010, and 0.2m sea-level rise, respectively. 12-13km of railways and 4-7km of A roads could be disrupted by 0.4-0.6m sea-level rise. Structural and non-structural solutions are also proposed for Southampton, including a tidal gate, water-proof technologies, flood forecasting and warning systems, etc. to adapt to coastal flooding over the 21st century.

This report gives an overview of the extensive short term measurements undertaken for the Delft Cluster project Railway transition zones. The objective of the project was to measure the response of the railway track and ground, at a transition zone' during the passage of regular service trains. Both Deltares and the University of Southampton performed measurements at the Gouda Goverwelle (GoGo) site. Both institutes have large amounts of measured data available for the project. Secondly, additional data is provided by Dutch railway operators. In order to make sure that data can be shared without problems it is essential that all data is properly documented. To ensure a problem free exchange of measurements and data, they are not only summarized in this report but they are given proper names as well. This way there will be less chance of misunderstandings between the two institutes when discussing measurement data.