UK: Boston Flood Defences Repair Work Underway

The Environment Agency is busy in Boston and the surrounding area repairing flood defences damaged by last week’s tidal surge.

Sheet piles were delivered at Slippery Gowt yesterday to allow repairs to be carried out to a 50-metre length of defence which backs onto a landfill site there.

A piling rig will arrive on site today and the temporary repairs are expected to be completed by Sunday. Contractors will work 14-hour days with floodlights on site to allow works to take place during hours of darkness.

Meanwhile, at Bath Gardens in Boston, opposite works being carried out by the Environment Agency on the tidal River Haven, sand bags have been placed to temporarily repair the defence. These works have been completed with permanent works planned for completion next week.

Another site, near to the Environment Agency’s Black Sluice Pumping Station on London Road, has also seen temporary repairs being undertaken.

100 one-tonne bags of sand have been placed in front of the wall by the Environment Agency and the Witham 4th Internal Drainage Board. The bags will bolster the flood wall that was damaged by last week’s tidal surge.

More sand bags are due to be place this morning and London Road will be closed to traffic from 10am to allow the safety measures to be implemented without risk to the public.

Works are also being carried out near to St Ann’s Lane in the town to repair a damaged flood defence. These will continue over the winter period.

All the temporary repairs have been designed to withstand high tides until permanent repairs can be carried out.

At Black Sluice Pumping Station, which was flooded by Thursday’s tidal surge resulting in electrical and mechanical failure, works are being undertaken to get two pumps back up and running.

This will allow the pumping station, which was built in 1946 to manage water levels in the South Forty Foot Drain, to operate at more than 50 per cent capacity. Black Sluice Pumping Station is not linked to the risk of tidal flooding.

Mark Robinson, Flood and Coastal Risk Management Senior Advisor, said: “We would like to reassure people that while there is considerable work to be done to repair flood defences in Boston and the surrounding area, we have resources in place and are making every effort to get appropriate measures in place as soon as possible.”

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Press Release, December 13, 2013