£10 million River Aire flood defence repairs near completion
A £10 million package of flood defence repairs is almost complete, and a further £3 million of funding has been secured, to make communities along the lower River Aire in Yorkshire more resilient to climate change.
A crane is moved on site at Chapel Haddlesey to start work to strengthen defences
The structures, including flood embankments and washlands, were damaged during heavy storms and flooding in 2019/20.
The latest repairs have been completed at Poor Bank near Gowdall where concrete blocks have been installed on the embankment of a reservoir to make it more resilient to erosion. At Carlton bridge, similar steps have been taken to ensure the river bank is more resilient to flood water.
This week, work began at Chapel Haddlesey where a crane has been brought in to strengthen the flood bank with sheet piling. The work is expected to take five weeks.
Kimberley MacPherson, West Yorkshire Operations Manager at the Environment Agency said:
Despite the challenges of the coronavirus and winter flooding during 2020/21, we have managed to deliver a £10 million package of flood repairs to protect communities in the Lower Aire.
The works were aimed at bringing our defences back up to their required standard of protection, so they can operate as designed during floods. Heavy storms damaged flood defences throughout the area in the winter of 2019/20 and this work ensures local communities will remain resilient to future flooding and climate change.
I’m delighted that we’ve been able to secure an extra £3m funding to continue this work for the Lower River Aire.
Timetable of repairs
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Repair work has already been completed at Little Airmyn, West Holme, West Haddlesey, Pickhill, Poor bank, Birkin Barrier bank, Hensall Pumping station, Carlton Bridge, Coates Marsh, Hirst Courtney, Temple Hirst and Lock lane.
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A replacement flood defence wall is currently underway at Newlands, with work due to be completed in the autumn.
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Work at Chapel Haddlesey started at the end of June. Works are required to stabilise the flood bank
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At Heck Ings, work on erosion damage and seepage repairs is due to be completed in the next few weeks.
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Work is ongoing at Hensall Ings Barrier bank. This is to repair an area which has been eroded and return the bank to its required standard of protection.
We can never entirely eliminate the risk of flooding. There are a lot of things you can do to prepare and reduce the damage that flooding can cause.
You can check your risk of flooding from rivers, surface water and reservoirs online at www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk.
You can also sign up for flood warnings at www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings if your property is at risk of flooding. This is free a service and you’ll be alerted by phone, email or text when flooding is expected from rivers, the sea or groundwater. You can also register, update your details or cancel your account by calling Floodline on 0345 988 1188.