SRA Annual Report 2020-21: Brief updates about Resilient Infrastructure activities

2020-21 activities

Culvert inspections and remedial works in Internal Drainage Board (IDB) areas

The main aims of this ongoing project are to improve the conveyance of water and to help prevent disruption to residents and road users. Designs for the replacement of two culverts have been prepared, one at Puriton Road in West Huntspill, the other at Northwick Road in Mark.

These works were put on hold in 2020-21 because of uncertainties about coronavirus pandemic restrictions. Both jobs required roads to be closed. It was judged unwise to proceed, because if pandemic restrictions were suddenly intensified or the contractor’s workforce became infected with coronavirus, there was a risk of the culvert works not being completed and problems ensuing.

Carhampton

In March 2020, the SRA Board approved funding for a two-year, two-phase scheme to reduce flood risks at the A39 Carhampton Cross and down along Eastbury Road.

The A39 through Carhampton is the main route in and out of West Somerset but it floods regularly to a depth that can make it impassable. Eastbury Road in Carhampton is part of the secondary route for people travelling between places such as Bridgwater, Taunton and Williton and Dunster, Minehead and Exmoor. Eastbury Road floods along with the A39, because water running off private land overwhelms existing drainage systems. Several properties are also affected by flooding.

In 2020-21, phase one, Somerset County Council’s Highways Department completed a topographical survey and CCTV drainage surveys of the A39, Hill Lane, Vicarage Road and Eastbury Road. This information has been used by Milestone (formerly Skanska) to help draw up detailed designs for improvements. Phase two, delivery, is currently expected to begin in mid-October 2021.

In 2020-21, the county council’s highways department also organised a CCTV survey of Meadowside in Carhampton, on behalf of Somerset West and Taunton Council, which has a different but now interlinked SRA grant for drainage improvements in the village.

As part of the SRA’s remit to encourage and enable partnership working, the Highways Department has also been collaborating with Somerset County Council’s Flood Risk Management team about the issue of run-off from farmland (see the entry for Carhampton in the Highways Referrals section of this report), as this could be affected by the main Carhampton scheme.

Chadmead

Somerset County Council’s Rights of Way Department asked the SRA for a one-off grant for fixing an unstable section of the bank of Bankland Stream, where it runs alongside part of the track that connects Northmoor Corner and Kitches Lane in Chadmead. The SRA approved this request, because although the track is classified as a public footpath, it has previously been used, and may be used in future, as a vehicular access route to and from Chadmead in times of flood. The owners of adjoining land have been consulted, a scheme specification has been prepared, and it is hoped to complete works by the end of August 2021.

Kingston St Mary

In March 2020, the SRA Board agreed to fund the bulk of the cost of drainage improvements down Lodes Lane in Kingston St Mary. In recent years, properties in the village have flooded many times because the Lodes Lane drainage system could not cope with the large amounts of water coming down from the Quantocks. In 2020-21, Somerset County Council’s Highways Department made – and paid for – the necessary preparations, including clearance, jetting, and CCTV surveying of the lane’s drainage system; identification of buried services; detailed design and specification; pre-works licences and temporary road closure orders. Drainage improvements then took place in April 2021. See also the entry for Kingston St Mary in the Highways Referrals section of this report.

Martock

For the SRA, Somerset County Council’s Highways Department has been working on the development of a flood detection and warning system for Stoke Road in Martock. Stoke Road is vulnerable to flooding between Martock and the A303. A sign displaying real-time alerts to road users would promote safety, particularly at night.

Posts and a source of power are needed to support the flood detection and warning system. A suitable site is being sought. Matters are complicated because in the best spots the verge is already congested with other infrastructure and underground utilities. The Highways Department has been working with Martock Parish Council to find an answer.

North Petherton

Where the Petherton Stream runs alongside part of Watery Lane, Sedgemoor District Council used SRA funding to replace two concrete bank plinths abutting a shallow silt trap. The edges of the silt trap were also replaced. Because the old plinths were undermined, they were putting at risk the foundations of two walls. The short wall between the stream and the road was partly rebuilt.

West Camel

In March 2020, the SRA Board approved funding for a Somerset County Council Highways Department proposal for drainage improvements in the Urgashay Road area of West Camel. Seven properties there have been affected by surface water flooding. Drain jetting and a CCTV survey have been carried out, and a scheme largely designed, but it has not yet been decided whether to incorporate West Camel Parish Council’s suggestion of an additional ditch outfall to the River Cam. At the time of writing, the results of investigations into this possibility are awaited.