Milestone for Ipswich Flood Barrier Scheme

The latest stage of the Environment Agency’s £58 million Ipswich Flood Barrier Scheme has been completed.

According to the release, over the last few months, VBA the contractors working for the EA, have installed the cofferdam, pumped it dry and they have now excavated the river silts and gravel.

The next stage is to pour the base slab, which is more than 700 cubic meters of reinforced concrete. At the moment the steel reinforcement is being placed by a team of 20 people and the first pour of the base slab will be completed in the next couple of weeks, reported the EA.

The actual tidal gate is being fabricated in Holland and will be delivered later in the summer when the concrete structure and control building are complete.

Progress has been made elsewhere on the site, with the foundations for the flood walls and the control building now installed.

EA project manager Andrew Usborne said: “The integrated team at the barrier are making good progress and are on program to complete the works in spring 2018.”

Nick Culshaw, VBA operations director, said: “In order to protect around 2,000 properties, both commercial and residential, within the town from flooding in the future, a 20m wide tidal barrier gate, along with the relevant controls, will be installed. The barrier, along with additional flood defenses undertaken by VBA, will prevent any surge tides and allow the control of fluvial flow as required in the future.”

The scheme –partnership funded by the Environment Agency, Ipswich Borough Council, Department for Communities and Local Government, the Haven Gateway Partnership and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership– is due to be completed in 2018.

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