Sidmouth’s flood alleviation scheme at The Knowle – incorporating an amphitheatre – has won two regional awards for civil engineering excellence. 

The project won the Judges’ Special Award from the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) South West, and also proved the public’s favourite, winning the People’s Choice Award. 

The judges said they were impressed with the flood scheme’s ‘clever design, combining floodwater storage and sustainable drainage with a beautiful outdoor amphitheatre’. 

They visited all the shortlisted projects over two days in June to assess which schemes would receive top honours.  

The People’s Choice Award was based on an online vote carried out in July. 

The Sidmouth flood alleviation scheme protects 64 homes and businesses by diverting floodwater from Station Road into the parkland at Knowle, where it ends up in underground storage tanks. 

As part of the civil engineering work, an amphitheatre was built above the underground tanks, with a central ‘stage’ and tiered rows rising around it, that can be used for outdoor events and performances. 

The project was carried out by South West Highways in partnership with Devon County Council, East Devon District Council which owns the land, Sidmouth Town Council, engineering consultancy Jacobs and the Environment Agency. 

The overall winner of the regional ICE awards was the £40.5 scheme to restore regular train services on the Dartmoor Line between Okehampton and Exeter. It also won the Community Award in recognition of the way the project team engaged with local residents, and the benefits the rail service brings to Dartmoor’s towns and villages. 

The awards were presented at a ceremony in Bristol on Tuesday, November 22 in front of a 300-strong audience from the region’s engineering and infrastructure sector. Ten projects in the region were shortlisted, with the aim of highlighting the many different ways in which civil engineering benefits the region, its people, economy and environment. 

All the finalists also showed evidence of their commitment to sustainability and meeting the United Nations sustainable development goals. 

ICE South West said civil engineers are on the front line of responding to the challenges of climate change, developing new ways to mitigate flooding, overcome droughts and reduce carbon emissions in the stuctures they build.