Village tree works ensure free-flowing river
Clearance works at Corbridge reduce flood risk
Removing debris from the River Tyne at Corbridge reduces local flood risk
The Environment Agency is carrying out work to further reduce the risk of flooding in a Northumberland village.
Over the years trees and thick vegetation have accumulated on an island in the River Tyne, next to the bridge in Corbridge.
The Environment Agency is completing clearance works to clear one third of the vegetation on the island this year, with further clearance works to be completed over the next two years.
The Environment Agency’s Duncan Harrison said:
The trees and heavy vegetation on the island causes the river flow to slow down and can lead to an increased risk of flooding in the village.
Over the next two years a programme of work will see much of the vegetation removed from the island to ensure the River Tyne flows freely. We’ve been in Corbridge this week finishing the first stage of this work.
Earlier this year, improvement work to better protect residents from flooding was completed by the Environment Agency, ten years after 54 properties in the village were flooded.
Following the 2005 floods, Environment Agency engineers replaced embankments either side of the bridge. And earlier this year a £400,000 scheme to further reduce the risk of flooding in the village was completed.
The work involved reinforcing a 400m section of a 60-year-old flood wall to prevent failure during high river levels, and installing a new flood embankment downstream of the bridge to remove reliance on an old lock-up garage to act as a flood defence.
The work helped reduce flood risk to around 40 properties in the Stanners area.