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First tonnes of clay on the way - video
9:00am Thursday 7th August 2008
NEW £650,000 flood defences in Worcester are taking shape after the first batch of clay was delivered to the river bank in Hylton Road.
The clay was transported by barge to the west bank of the river Severn just yards downstream of Sabrina Bridge yesterday.
The 150-tonne delivery is the first of about 40 loads which will form the core of the permanent flood bank stretching upstream from the footbridge along to the first house on the bank.
The Environment Agency has recycled the clay from contractors in Upton-upon-Severn, who are extending the town’s marina, and is hoping to reduce the project’s carbon footprint by not moving the loads by lorry.
About 12,000 tonnes of clay will be delivered in the next few weeks with the completed bank and connected brick wall protecting 13 homes, businesses and helping to keep Hylton Road open in all but the most severe floods.
Lesley Bond, who lives yards from the construction site, has seen her home devastated twice by flooding in the past eight years.
She went along to watch the barge moor at the riverside from Sabrina Bridge.
Mrs Bond said: “I am ecstatic. It’s something I have been waiting for a long time.”
Mary Dhonau, Worcester Action Against Flooding chairman and chief executive of the National Flood Forum, said: “We had to come and watch the barge arrive.
“Hylton Road is the main artery for Worcester and when it shuts the whole of the city becomes grid-locked.”
Engineers have already prepared much of the site and can now start stripping topsoil and infilling with the clay.
The bank will rise up from the ground over the next few weeks as earthmovers layer the clay, which is then rolled, to build a highly water-resistant bank.
Phil Foxley, Environment Agency project manager, said: “It’s going very well and this is the next major milestone for the project. The residents have been very supportive. It’s not often you get so much goodwill on such a scheme.”
Mike Foster, Worcester’s MP, said the barge’s arrival was a “big step forward” for Worcester and its flood victims.
Your Say Your Worcester
Logik, Worcester says...
10:25am Thu 7 Aug 08
What is it with people believing all this 'tosh' about carbon footprints and global warming (sorry, renamed climate change as the Earth has not warmed for the last ten years).
Must be a new religion or something. Carbon trading and talk of making systems 'carbon neutral' is all about politics and exploitation of taxpayers. It has nothing to do with climate science.
varien, Worcester says...
3:05pm Thu 7 Aug 08
All this talk about carbon footprints and carbon trading - how many people actually know what the hell all this means.
What is a "carbon footprint"?
What is "carbon trading"?
How are carbon footprints and carbon trading calculated and how many people would actually understand the calculation?
How many people know what volume is occupied by 1 tonne of CO2? etc, etc
As a qualified engineer of some 40 years standing I can just about manage to understand enough of what is being said and the "supposed" calculations that are put forward to back all this up.
My interpretation of it all is that there may be something in it but at the end of the day it is all political spin which is used as an excuse to raise taxation.
chrisnewmanuk, Worcester says...
3:59pm Thu 7 Aug 08
Windy Miller, Lower Broadheath says...
6:31pm Thu 7 Aug 08
Well done this will push the flood water over into Waterworks Road and Diglis.We can alredy expect higher floods from the road alterations at Upton.
DermotItis, Northwick says...
8:42pm Thu 7 Aug 08
My idea is why not just dig the same depth out of the river bottom and make money selling this valuable resource?
I claim copyright on this idea and I will call it dredging!
Windy Miller, Lower Broadheath says...
7:03pm Fri 8 Aug 08
Dredging has absolutely no effect on the rivers capacity to carry flood water. The river is six feet deep with a rock bottom, the floods can reach twenty five feet higher on top of this.
Common Sense, Pershore says...
12:03pm Sun 10 Aug 08
I don't get that argument. If you take a stone out of a full glass of water, it lowers the water level.
Conversely, drop one in - and it overflows!
So exactly WHAT were they dredging out of the river, all those years ago, when it kept the flooding at a lower level? It must have been SOMETHING!
Or was there just less rainfall? Do we get more now? Why - who says?
Wales send it on to us, don't they? They don't want it - so we have to deal with it.
Is this a "not in my county" sort of thing - and does Gloucestershire dredge?
If somebody made money out of it - they would be dredging it 24/7!
Windy Miller, Lower Broadheath says...
4:27pm Sun 10 Aug 08
The weir maintains the minimum 6 foot depth to the river in Worcester. Without it we would have a series of stagnant sewage filled pools along the length of the river,particularly in the summer, which was the case before 1840.
Tests show flood water flows away more quickly over a smooth base than tumbling back and forth over the rocky bottom.
Dredging was only needed at local spots like bridges and locks where silt was deposited in slow moving eddies. It had nothing to do with flood control.Only deep laden Petrol and Grain barges needed dredging as the barge operators trying to bring 300 tons of clay are finding out now. They seem to be restricted to 100 tons ( 4 Feet)but as the weeks pass they will clear a deeper channel by disturbing the silt and letting it wash down stream.
For the record we had enormous floods as in 1886 when it reached the top of Worcester Bridge arches, the highest recorded at that point.
We can expect at any time now with the increased rainfall much higher floods than the Hylton Road bund will protect.All effort should be devoted to keeping the whole flood plain clear to allow unobstructed evacuation.
Building bunds will force higher floods elsewhere, they have to go somewhere.
Common Sense, Pershore says...
10:54pm Sun 10 Aug 08
So it would seem the logical step is to keep the flood plains clear and ready - not build 2 squillion houses and roads on them!
Incidentally, why can't you "level out" the whirlpools of sewage and just deepen it evenly for the required distance? Say to Tewkesbury!
Windy Miller, Lower Broadheath says...
7:22pm Mon 11 Aug 08
There are many rock shoals on the river bed , known as Ketches, because they caught the keels of the sailing Trows, and these create the pools.The hard rock wore out the dredger buckets.
Don't swim in the river, it killed the unfortunate potter last year.
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EASY DOES IT: A barge bringing 150 tonnes of clay heads along the river. Picture by John Anyon. 32477201
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feline, Upton upon Severn says...
9:35am Thu 7 Aug 08
The extended marina, which is supplying the material, will be used to moor luxury cruisers, many of which will use a gallon of diesel fuel to traverse a mile of the Severn. Has this carbon footprint been addressed? Once again the Environment Agency is making statements which fail to address the complete scenario.
I have every sympathy with flood victims. I, too, am still living in a caravan after the floods of July 2007. However there are issues with flood barriers which must be addressed more thoroughly. Restricting the surface area of a given water volume increases its depth and one person's flood protection becomes someone else's liability. The biggest error was made in the mid 1970s, when millions of pounds (EEC grant)was spent around the Severn, building flood banks to protect agricultural land. This work had a significant effect on the subsequent flood levels of unprotected properties. I do hope that the scheme helps the residents in Worcester, but it is not broad solution. It is time to re-establish the flood plains on agricultural land, allowing flood water to take its natural course. I have no doubt that such action would reduce the depth of water at most points of the Severn during flood conditions.