Hull barrier turns tide on threat

30 January 2008

Environment Agency officers used the River Hull barrier to help drain water from east Yorkshire’s floodplains last week, as flood defences across the country stood up to the heavy rains.

Officers used the tidal surge barrier to stop tidal flows from entering the Hull river system, allowing water further up the river to discharge towards the coast. Once the tide had turned, the barrier was lifted to allow water to flow out.

The EA’s Jan Davie said: ‘By using the tidal barrier, we can keep the tide from going up river.

‘This creates more space in the lower parts of the river system so that water from upstream can flow down into it. We hope to drop the barrier again to get as much water as possible out of the River Hull and into the Humber.’

The 202t barrier is normally dropped between eight and 12 times a year. Meanwhile, flood defences on the River Calder protected Wakefield from flooding when water levels rose following torrential rain on already-saturated ground.

The walls and floodgates kept the water out, and the washlands created from the old quarry sites close to the Denby Dale Road junction with the M1 motorway took significant amounts of water from the River Calder, easing river levels which would otherwise have flooded roads and properties around Thornes Lane, Barnsley and Doncaster Roads – effectively crippling the city.

The new £18M flood defences in Selby stood up to their first major test, even though the scheme is not quite complete, while in Shropshire, flood defences protected 75 local homes and businesses as river levels rose on the Severn, the EA explained.

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