Bridgwater Tidal Barrier public drop-in session – Wednesday 30 November 2022
A public drop-in session to let people know the latest news about the Bridgwater Tidal Barrier project is being held on Wednesday 30 November 2022 at St Mary’s Church in St Mary Street, Bridgwater, TA6 3EQ.
Staff from the Environment Agency and Sedgemoor District Council will be in St Mary’s between 2pm and 7pm to listen to comments and suggestions, and answer questions.
Ahead of this event, a newsletter has been published. Download a copy of the Bridgwater Tidal Barrier PDF newsletter November 2022.
Or you can read the newsletter’s text down below, down past the following key facts about the scheme.
Key facts: Bridgwater Tidal Barrier
Bridgwater Tidal Barrier is a major £100 million project led by the Environment Agency and Sedgemoor District Council.
Designed to help protect more than 11,300 homes and 1,500 businesses, it has three main elements:
- a tidal barrier on the River Parrett at Chilton Trinity
- 2.67 miles (4.3km) of new flood defence banks and 1.74 miles (2.8km) of raised banks downstream at Chilton Trinity, Combwich and Pawlett
- fish and eel passage improvements at 12 sites upstream of the barrier, the furthest up being Bradford-on-Tone beyond Taunton, and Ham Weir between East Lambrook and Martock
The Environment Agency and Sedgemoor District Council are working together on the project, supported by Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA). The Barrier is due to become operational – and start providing flood protection – in 2026.
Bridgwater Tidal Barrier newsletter November 2022
Access track to enable construction of Barrier and west bank downstream defences
Work has started on a new access track from Saltlands Lane (adjacent to the recycling centre). Large vehicles and construction plant will use this to access the barrier site and it will minimise traffic into Chilton Trinity. Asbestos was found at the start of the track. A cordon has been set up whilst asbestos is safely removed, and some public footpaths have been temporarily diverted. Work could take four weeks but up to six months if we find more asbestos. We have minimised any delay to the overall work programme and complied with ecological working windows by completing early vegetation clearance.
Barrier and operational building
We continue to engage with the local planning authority to share latest design details to comply with the planning conditions outlined in the Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO). Use of low carbon components for the scheme such as ‘cemfree concrete’, fibre reinforced plastic, zinc cladding and solar panels is important. We have asked our framework contractor Kier to develop a design and construction method for the temporary bypass channel. We hope to start building this in 2023. The barrier can then be constructed in the main river channel.
Downstream defences
We continue to engage with landowners on detailed design plans for Chilton Trinity, Combwich and Pawlett. This allows us to consider their farming practices and land use in developing the detailed design.
Express Park
We have completed testing on the concrete slab at Heron Court to assess its strength for reuse as the foundation for the new barrier control building.
Engaging with local schools
The Department for Education has allocated us funding to use at four local schools for delivering classroom sessions and installing Sustainable Urban Drainage systems (SuDS) to improve surface water drainage at the school sites. The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) will help us deliver each solution, such as a rain garden, sensory planting area or water storage connected directly to roof gutters.
Fish and eel passes
We are completing a programme of flow gauge installation at fish and eel pass sites. In 2023 we will carry out ground investigations. The concept designs we have created will be developed for construction based on this data.