Go-ahead for Somerset dredging and drainage works

21st September 2022
SRA

Extra funding for three projects to reduce local flood risks has been approved by the Board of Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA).

Members have agreed that the River Parrett should be dredged this winter between Burrowbridge and Northmoor on the Somerset Levels and Moors, at a total estimated project cost of £270,000. To meet this cost, which includes channel surveys and environmental monitoring, the Board decided to add £137,000 to the £133,000 that remains from an SRA dredging grant given back in March 2018. The dredging forms part of a programme that is helping to protect around 1,300 homes and businesses, and around 7,500 hectares of land. (Text continues below).

Van Oord’s water injection dredging vessel Borr, with bar raised at the back for demonstration purposes, on the River Parrett near Westonzoyland Pumping Station.

The SRA Board also agreed to allocate just over £248,000 for a variety of works in the villages of Rode and Beckington near Frome. These works will now be able to begin soon, to tie in with some associated Wessex Water sewer improvements. In Rode, the primary school and more than 25 properties will benefit from reduced flood risks, in Beckington the whole village. Pictured at the top of this page: Mendip District Council’s Flood Risk Consultant Caroline Murray exploring a back-garden stream in Beckington.

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Mendip District Council Flood Risk Consultant Caroline Murray and Jane Moon of Hydromorph assessing Beckington street drainage.

Cllr Mike Stanton, SRA Chair, said: “The Board has made sure these projects can go ahead in the next few weeks and months. With many costs rising because of inflation, we’ve acted promptly to keep delivering better flood protection for Somerset.

“A huge amount of preparation has gone into these projects.

“As a partner in the SRA, Mendip District Council has led very thorough investigations in Rode and Beckington, stream by stream and street by street. More extensive repairs to culverts are required than first expected, which is why the SRA has topped up the budget. I’m grateful to everyone who has helped to keep costs down, such as the landowner in Rode who’s allowed contractors free use of land as a site compound.

“Along the River Parrett, the Parrett Internal Drainage Board has done a brilliant job for the SRA over the last few years in developing a very effective combination of water injection dredging and silt monitoring. It’s much cheaper and much less disruptive than conventional dredging, which is why the SRA hasn’t needed to put any money towards it since March 2018. A lot of dredging has been done since the devastating floods of 2013-14, and this winter’s work will help to preserve the physical benefits and peace of mind that work has brought people.”

Water injection dredging contractors Van Oord will operate down the Parrett in either December or January, depending on matters such as tides and the weather. They will use a vessel which can pump out high volumes of targeted water, so that sediments are forced off the river bed and then dispersed through natural processes, downstream as the tide goes out.