A failed engineering project that turned into an abandoned "donut" (6 photos + 1 video)

A bizarre man-made island dubbed the 'doughnut' off the coast of Lincolnshire cost £30m before being abandoned.





A promising project that became a derelict 'doughnut' was an expensive and botched engineering endeavour.



This artificial crater-like island was built in the 1970s to test the feasibility of an engineering project that ultimately proved unfeasible. The concentric pond at its center has led locals to nickname it "The Donut."





In 1972, the British government commissioned an ambitious engineering project in one of England's largest bays, the shallow and treacherous Wash. The idea was to build a tidal power station as well as a freshwater reservoir to divert the flow of the River Nene.



Construction began in 1975. Two trial islands, including a 250-metre diameter "doughnut", were built to study the quality of water in the reservoir, which was built on the former seabed. The island is made of sand and reinforced with rock-filled cages, and has a central reservoir. Tests cost £3 million and showed that the project would be both expensive and impractical, as the central reservoir quickly became salty and silty.



The project was abandoned in 1976, but the island lives on as a tangible reminder of its failure. It is rarely included on maps, though it stands out as one of the highest points on the flat, marshy coastline of the Wash. The "doughnut" is clearly visible in satellite images, where it resembles a marshy meteorite crater in the corner of the bay. Now part of the Wash National Wildlife Refuge, the island has found new life as it is inhabited by up to 3,000 seabirds.