Flood repairs start in Corbridge, Northumberland
The Environment Agency has started work to repair flood defences in Corbridge as part of their £3million North East recovery programme
Work to repair flood defences in a Northumberland town, which were damaged during the winter floods, has started.
Recovery work at Corbridge will be carried out by the Environment Agency and will permanently repair flood defences.
The project started on Monday, August 22, and will take place in three locations.
At Devils Water a 20 metre scour to the inside of the flood bank will be repaired, with work expected to last until the end of September.
At Stanners Bank, the Environment Agency will be repairing 10 metres of bank erosion near to the Cricket Club, and modifying the crest levels of the ramp so it matches the height of the flood wall.
There will also be the installation of 6 metre long sheet piles to stabilise the toe of the embankment further down from the Cricket Club.
The work near the Cricket Club is expected to last until November 2016.
It will permanently repair flood defences to the standard of protection they provided before the winter flooding this past December.
The work is part of a £3million Environment Agency recovery programme to restore damaged flood defences.
Floods Minister Thérèse Coffey said:
It is fantastic to see Corbridge’s critical flood defences being strengthened once again - showing how determined we are not just to protect the village, but the whole of the North East.
Northumberland is an area of great natural beauty and culture and we’re committed to completing all repairs to defences ahead of the coming winter. That’s why we’re investing £3 million in flood recovery here, to make sure homes and businesses are ready for this winter.
Alan Cadas, Environment Agency Operations Manager for the North East, added:
The storms this past winter had a terrible impact on Corbridge, with 55 homes and businesses flooding, making it one of the worst affected places in the North East.
We carried out initial temporary repairs to flood defences to ensure the town was protected, and we’re now in a position to carry out permanent repairs.
Residents will see us and our contractors on site for the next few months while we carry out the work.
The programme of recovery work, to get our defences back into the condition they were in prior to flooding, is a challenge, but we’re working tirelessly to restore protection to communities.
Tynedale was the North East area most affected by winter floods, which saw record rainfall drop on to already saturated land, leading to some of the highest river levels since 1771.
Also in Corbridge, the Environment Agency is planning to remove vegetation from a gravel island in the town, to improve movement of water during high flows.
And work to repair flood defences in Tynedale’s Haydon Bridge started at the beginning of August and includes erosion repairs to the banks of the River South Tyne, repairs to Temple Houses flood wall, repairing the flood bank at Martins Close and Rocksprings Crescent and repointing Brigwood flood wall.
Since December the Environment Agency, Northumberland County Council and Northumbrian Water have been working together to tackle flooding in the Tyne Valley.
This includes repairs to flood defences, sewer network maintenance, repairs to the highways infrastructure and improving community resilience.
Work to identify what more can be done to reduce the risk of flooding in affected communities and to increase resilience to flooding is also underway.