SRA Annual Report 2021-22: Carhampton
For many years the A39 at Carhampton Cross regularly flooded so badly it was dangerous or impossible to drive through. As the A39 is the main road serving West Somerset, widespread disruption resulted for residents, businesses and visitors.
Problems were made worse by water cascading down from Carhampton Cross, regularly flooding the B3191 Eastbury Road, and hitting people’s homes. Drainage systems were simply overwhelmed by the amount of water pouring off land nearby.
Somerset Rivers Authority therefore teamed up with Somerset County Council’s Highways Department for a series of major drainage upgrades. Works were carried out by contractors Skanska (now known as Milestone) in October and November 2021.
SRA-funded improvements along the A39, B3191 and nearby Hill Lane included bigger pipes, better gullies, and new water control features such as concrete chambers and a catch-pit. Somerset County Council paid for extensive road resurfacing.
All these works were very well tested in torrential rain on Boxing Day 2021, when the county council’s local highways service manager Kevin Bridgwater happened to be driving through on his way to a seasonal family get-together. In the past, he said, Carhampton Cross would have been deluged. Now to his delight, he did not even see a puddle – and he drove up and down Hill Lane, the A39, and Eastbury Road to check. Several residents have approached him at social events to say ‘thank you’ for the excellent job done.
“There isn’t a negative to it,” said Mr Bridgwater.