SRA Annual Report 2024-25: Dunball Sluice refurbishment
Helped by £650,000 from the SRA, the Environment Agency completed a major £9.7million refurbishment of Dunball Sluice.
The sluice sits at the bottom end of the River Sowy-King’s Sedgemoor Drain (KSD) system, north of Bridgwater.
It is used by the Environment Agency to control flows between the KSD and the River Parrett, and thereby protect properties, businesses and internationally important habitats across the Somerset Levels and Moors.
A sluice was first built at Dunball in the 1790s. Since then it has taken various forms. In its present incarnation, it goes back to 1971 (below), built when the River Sowy was created (1969-72), so it could deal with more water coming down through the newly interlinked Sowy-KSD system.
More than 50 years on, many of the sluice’s key mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, control and automation components were getting worn out.
Their upgrading and replacing (pictured below) has given the sluice another 25 years of operational life, just as the Sowy-KSD system is once again being enhanced.
Specific works in 2024-25 included refurbishing the southern bypass channel (with tide-flap, penstock and tilting weir) and completely re-cabling and renewing sluice control systems.
