PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Situated in West Yorkshire along the River Went, the village of Wentbridge is susceptible to severe flooding, especially during rare storm events. In particular, the Great North Road’s bridge over the River Went is prone to flooding and has previously become impassable during storm events. We were commissioned by the Environment Agency and Breheny Civil Engineering to provide Civil Engineering and Structural services to support the development, design and construction of flood mitigation measures to a section of the village containing several private homes. These works were part of the Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Control and Automation (MEICA) scoping programme undertaken by the Environment Agency.
The outline scope of works required land around the homes to be able to be drained during periods of high river flow, ensuring the surrounding properties, bridge and road did not flood to such an extent as before. Our team successfully mitigated flooding and achieved the desired objectives by designing and installing an offline Surface Water Pumping Station system that would activate during periods where the network could no longer discharge into the river by means of gravity. Our solution was put to the test during Storm Babet in 2023, and as the aerial photographs show, the private homes to the south of the bridge remained safe from flooding, the bridge had almost completely surcharged and the road only partially flooded.
WHAT WE DID:
DESIGN STAGE
- Reviewed all documentation supplied by the Environment Agency and Breheny Civil Engineering
- Ground Investigation
- Detailed Design
PRE-CONSTRUCTION STAGE
- Prepared Pre-Construction Information
POST-CONSTRUCTION STAGE
- Assisted with the completion of Sign-Off Documentation
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS / BENEFITS
- Obtained planning permission for a Control Kiosk.
- With the support of our in-house Water & Flood Risk team, we provided additional flood mitigation advice.
- Provided immediate protection to the surrounding area during Storm Babet in 2023.