River Parrett Dredging Project Starts

Maintenance dredging on the River Parrett downstream of Burrowbridge will start again this week, according to the Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA).

SRA announced that the work will go on for at least a week and help to protect homes, businesses and roads from flooding.

They also added that the dredging is being done for Somerset Rivers Authority by Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium and specialist contractors Van Oord.

Water injection dredging vessel Borr should be craned in to the river at Dunball this week, then steered up to Westonzoyland, SRA said in the release.

The aim is to disperse around 15,000 cubic meters of silt, identified through regular monitoring.

The figure is quite a bit less than before, a sign that all the efforts of recent years may be paying off. Many factors have to be considered, but one could be that the Parrett as a living river is becoming more comfortable with its shape.