Ross-on-Wye

next Flood alleviation work 2008


Ross-on-Wye

The Flood Alleviation Scheme Work 2007

Current works

Click here for the continuing Flood Alleviation Scheme Work in 2008

22nd December 2007

From the Boat House to the River

Very little has changed in this area except that many of the logs, a result of the bank clearance, have been washed into the stream by the floods.

From the Boat House to the River (22-12-07)
Beside the River Wye
(Click for a larger image)

Fiveways
The Fiveways site (22-12-07)
Fiveways site (Click for a larger image)

The work at the Fiveways or Kings Acre site continues in earnest.

The digging of the new culvert from Fiveways to Broadmeadows is continuing.

The railway embankment has been dug away, as can be seen in the photo below. The remains of it can just be seen on the right of the shot.

Kings Acre ramp (22-12-07)
The Kings Acre Car Park ramp
(Click for a larger image)

The remains of the embankment (22-12-07)
The remains of the railway embankment (Click for a larger image)

Broadmeadows
Broadmeadows (22-12-07)
The Broadmeadows channel
(Click for a larger image)

The new line of the channel has been cut through where the entrance to the area used to be. The new tunnel under the road is yet to be added.

The previous tunnel under this area looked to be around 24" (600mm) in diameter (and it may have been blocked with silt) so this should be a large improvement on the drainage in this area. The previous channel can be seen in the photos on the 25th November 2007.


The new trench at Broadmeadows (22-12-07)
The new channel at Broadmeadows (Click for a larger image)

The Bund

The soil from the excavations continues to be heaped around in the Bund area.

The Bund from the entrance (22-12-07)
The Bund from the site entrance (Click for a larger image)

An overview of the Bund (22-12-07)
An overview of the Bund (Click for a larger image)

The Bund (22-12-07)
The Bund bank (Click for a larger image)

21st December 2007

The Bifurcation Tunnel and Falling Shaft area
The base of the tunnel (21-12-07)
The base of the tunnel
[Courtesy of Nuttall's]
(Click for a larger image)

Here the concrete has been poured into the shuttering to form the bottom of the tunnel.

Just after this the whole area was flooded. Fortunately the concrete will still cure even though it is under water (provided the cement is not washed out).


20th December 2007

The Bifurcation Tunnel and Falling Shaft area

Here the steel reinforcing is being finalised ready for the concrete to be poured to form the base of the tunnel. In the left-hand picture the edge of the falling shaft can be seen.

The steel reinforcing (20-12-07)
The steel reinforcing
[Courtesy of Nuttall's]
(Click for a larger image)
The bifurcation tunnel steel reinforcing (20-12-07)
The bifurcation tunnel steel reinforcing
[Courtesy of Nuttall's]
(Click for a larger image)

19th December 2007

The Falling Shaft area

Here the steel reinforcing bars have started to be put in place which will help to strengthen the bifurcation tunnel.

The old culvert in the Falling Shaft area (19-12-07)
The Falling Shaft area
[Courtesy of Nuttall's]
(Click for a larger image)

15th December 2007

Behind the Boat House
Behind the Boat House (15-12-07)
Behind the Boat House
(Click for a larger image)

Further clearance has been carried out in this area.


Homs Road and Rope Walk area

New equipment is being installed in this area as preparations are made for the works to continue in the new year.

Behind the Boat House (15-12-07)
The Homs Road area
(Click for a larger image)

Fiveways

The work on the culvert continues both near to where the sluice was and in the middle of the car park area.

The Fiveways works (15-12-07)
The Fiveways area
(Click for a larger image)
The works at Fiveways (15-12-07)
The Fiveways works
(Click for a larger image)

13th December 2007

The Falling Shaft area

Here the bottom of the pit where the Bifurcation tunnel will be, is a hive of activity as preparations to build the tunnel progress.

The shuttering around the sides of the pit can be clearly seen along with the support framework to prevent the shuttering ans sides of the pit collapsing in.

The old culvert in the Falling Shaft area (13-12-07)
The Falling Shaft area
[Courtesy of Nuttall's]
(Click for a larger image)

12th December 2007

The Falling Shaft

These two shots were taken from the bifurcation tunnel which is the area where the Chatterly Brook culvert will split and will feed either into the falling shaft (and into the new deep culvert) or into the exisiting culvert depending on the volume of water. The left shot shows what will be the link to the exisiting culvert that runs from Fiveways to behind the swimming pool and the right hand shot shows the original Chatterly Brook culvert after the excavations at that time.

The Chatterley Brook1 is normally nothing but a small trickle of water unless the Rudhall Brook is overwhelmed and floods. At this point the water flows into the Chatterley Brook1 and down to the Fiveways area. As a result, under normal conditions the water will follow the Rudhall Brook. In a potential flood situation when the Rudhall will overflow into the dunded area on the east of the A40 and this will, in tern, feed into the Chatterly Brook and flow either down the exisiting culvert or new culvert to the Rope Walk area depending on the sheer quantity of water.

The link culvert in the Falling Shaft area (12-12-07)
The link culvert in the Falling Shaft area
[Courtesy of Nuttall's]
(Click for a larger image)
The old culvert in the Falling Shaft area (12-12-07)
The old culvert in the Falling Shaft area
[Courtesy of Nuttall's]
(Click for a larger image)

The shots below are of the positioning of the first parts of the bifurcation tunnel. The left shot shows the section of the culvert section being lifted into place by a crane and the right hand shot shows the section once it has been positioned in the hole.

The first section being lifted (12-12-07)
The first section being lifted
[Courtesy of Nuttall's]
(Click for a larger image)
The first section in position (12-12-07)
The first section in position
[Courtesy of Nuttall's]
(Click for a larger image)

8th December 2007

Homs Road and Rope Walk area

The problem with the Rope Walk area is that it regularly floods whenever the Wye bursts its banks. This meant that it was impossible to see if anything had changed during the past week.

The Homs Road works (8-12-07)
The flooded Homs Road area
(Click for a larger image)

Fiveways
The Fiveways works (8-12-07)
The Fiveways area
(Click for a larger image)

The shaft at Fiveways now looks to be an access way to get to the old culvert which can be just seen in the photo below-right.


The Fiveways works (8-12-07)
The Fiveways works
(Click for a larger image)
The excavation (8-12-07)
The Fiveways excavation
(Click for a larger image)

Broadmeadows

The stream has been dammed up on either side of the causeway and the water is pumped around from the upstream to the downstream side whilst work is in progress. A deep trench has been dug part of the way across the gateway (in the middle of the picture). Presumably this will form a new culvert under the road.

The Broadmeadow works (8-12-07)
The Broadmeadow area
(Click for a larger image)

The Bund

More soil has been added or stored up here.

The Bund (8-12-07)
The Bund area
(Click for a larger image)

1st December '07

From the Boat House to the River
The River works (1-12-07)
The works down by the river
(Click for a larger image)

The bank and channel clearance has now been started all the way down to the river.


Behind the Boat House
The works at the Boat House (1-12-07)
The works down by the Boat House
(Click for a larger image)

The area and channel behind the Boat House has been cleared further and some excavation of the banks has been carried out where necessary.

The boat house bridge (1-12-07)
The channel and bridge from the Boat House
(Click for a larger image)

Looking upsteam behind the boat house (1-12-07)
The channel behind Boat House looking towards the Rope Walk
(Click for a larger image)
Looking downstream behind the boat house (1-12-07)
The channel behind Boat House looking towards the river
(Click for a larger image)

Homs Road and Rope Walk area

There arevery few visible changes here. On the FAS notice board, at Fiveways, it is reported that the vertical shaft here is nearing completion and that the tunnel boring machine will arrive early in the new year.


Fiveways
The works at Fiveways (1-12-07)
The works at Fiveways
(Click for a larger image)

The shaft at Fiveways (1-12-07)
The shaft at Fiveways
(Click for a larger image)

The Fiveways works were a hive of activity this morning. It appeared that there was a problem with a pump and the shaft was filling with water. This was a problem as there was a mini-digger in the hole and work could not continue until it was drained.

The photos here show that the steel mentioned in the last update has been used as shuttering to prevent the shaft from collapsing in. Also it is possible to see that the red frame is also part of the shuttering as it is providing the internal support. Persumably this shaft is needed to allow access to the culvert further across the carpark site.


A second view of the shaft (1-12-07)
A second view of the shaft
(Click for a larger image)
A third view of the shaft (1-12-07)
A third view of the shaft
(Click for a larger image)

Broadmeadow

This area is now fenced off a fairly long distance from the works so access is not possible and the distance means that photos are also not possible.

29th November '07

The Railway Embankment

Here we see the railway embankment being excavated, from several angles, by the Caterpillar (CAT) excavator. Quite a large section has been removed. Once the works are complete then it is a requirement that the excavated area of the embankment, which is council property, be rebuilt but it will be at the same level as the upper car park (previously it was several feet higher).

The railway embankment excavations (29-11-07)
The railway embankment excavations
[Courtesy of Nuttall's]
(Click for a larger image)
The embankment (29-11-07)
The railway embankment from another angle
[Courtesy of Nuttall's]
(Click for a larger image)

26th November '07

The Railway Embankment

Here we see the Caterpillar excavator loading a lorry. The bucket on the excavator looks huge which is a perspective effect. In actual fact, due to the size of the excavator, it only took three or four bucket loads to get close to filling the lorry.

The CAT loading a lorry (26-11-07)
The CAT excavator loading a lorry
[Courtesy of Nuttall's]
(Click for a larger image)

25th November '07

Homs Road and Rope Walk area
The Homs Road works (25-11-07)
Update on the Homs Road area
(Click for a larger image)

This week there are a few mysteries and this is the fist one. I am not sure what this piece of steelwork is for. Maybe it is going to be part of the tunnel lining or is part of some tunnelling machinery?

Mystery equipment (25-11-07)
Some mystery equipment
(Click for a larger image)

Behind the Boat House
Behind the Boat House (25-11-07)
Behind the Boat House
(Click for a larger image)

Channel behind the Boat House (25-11-07)
The channel behind the Boat House
(Click for a larger image)

The area behind the boat house is being cleared of trees and bushes as the focus of the channel works moves further down the towards the river.

In the photo to the right, the bank can be clearly seen as having been built up with bags of concrete to prevent the bank being washed out from under the boat house.


Fiveways

The new culvert has now had all the water pumped out and this is being maintained using an electric pump running off a generator.

Pumped out culvert (25-11-07)
Pumped out culvert
(Click for a larger image)

The frame in the photo below is currently another mystery. A depression has been dug and a frame (the red bars) have been assembled here. Quite what this is, is unclear, it maybe part of a larger structure yet to be built. It is built around the digger so it has to be moved in order to get the digger out of the hollow.

Frame (25-11-07)
Frame in the depression
(Click for a larger image)
Frame closeup (25-11-07)
Closeup on the frame
(Click for a larger image)

In the photo below-left, some formed steelwork can be seen. Presumably this is to hold up a bank or some form of reinforcement.

In the photo below-right, the work on the old railway embankment continues.

Steelwork (25-11-07)
Steelwork
(Click for a larger image)
Embankment (25-11-07)
Embankment
(Click for a larger image)

Broadmeadow
Broadmeadow area (25-11-07)
The Broadmeadow area
(Click for a larger image)

The channel has been excavated right out to the entrance of the Broadmeadow caravan & camping park.

The Broadmeadow channel (25-11-07)
The Broadmeadow channel
(Click for a larger image)

The Broadmeadow tunnel (25-11-07)
The Broadmeadow tunnel
(Click for a larger image)

This is the existing tunnel at Broadmeadows. The channel is very narrow at this point and it is a major restriction to the flow. This area must have acted as quite an effective dam in the past thus restricting the flow and possibly helping to reduce the flooding further downstream from the Chatterly Brook at least.


The Bund

The work continues in the bund area. To the far right in the photo below can be seen a wheel washing machine to prevent mud being carried from the site onto the A40.

In the photo below to the left-bottom corner can be seen one of the waterways that feeds down through Broadmeadow and on to Fiveways. The Rudhall Brook follows the line of the hedge running approximately from the left-middle to the top-centre of the picture.

The bund area (25-11-07)
The bund access area
(Click for a larger image)

These heaps of soil have appeared over the last few weeks and are probably the spoil from the excavations further down the channels from Broadmeadow to Fiveways.

The bund (25-11-07)
The bund
(Click for a larger image)

17th November '07

The Railway Embankment

The diggers are now working on the old railway embankment presumably to allow the culvert to pass underneath.

The railway embankment (17-11-07)
The railway embankment
(Click for a larger image)
The railway embankment II (17-11-07)
The diggers on the railway embankment
(Click for a larger image)

Homs Road and Rope Walk area

The new channel has been expanded towards to the Rowing Club. Other than that, not a great deal of changes can be seen in this area.

The Rope Walk works (17-11-07)
The new channel
(Click for a larger image)
The Rope Walk works II (17-11-07)
The new channel from the Boat House end
(Click for a larger image)

16th November '07

The Railway Embankment

Here two excavators are being used to dig out the railway embankment.

The excavations on the embankment (16-11-07)
The excavations on the railway embankment
[Courtesy of Nuttall's]
(Click for a larger image)

10th November '07

The Sluice at Brookend
The new culvert (10-11-07)
The Fiveways to Broadmeadows culvert
(Click for a larger image)

The new culvert from Fiveways towards Broadmeadows has now been covered back over. Works are now starting further over up on the Railway embankment.


Homs Road and Rope Walk area
The Rope Walk works (10-11-07)
The new upper channel
(Click for a larger image)

The stream channel has been cutout to allow the flood water to flow away more easily. The soil from the digging has been used to form a bank along the side of the road.


The Rope Walk works II (10-11-07)
The new channel from the Trenchard Street end
(Click for a larger image)

3rd November '07

The Sluice at Brookend
The new culvert (3-11-07)
The new Fiveways to Broadmeadows culvert
(Click for a larger image)

The new culvert from Fiveways towards Broadmeadows is being installed across the carpark. This is currently following the line of the old culvert.


The end of the new culvert (3-11-07)
The end of the new culvert
(Click for a larger image)
The old culvert (3-11-07)
The remains of the old culvert
(Click for a larger image)

The line of the new culvert (3-11-07)
The line of the culvert
(Click for a larger image)

Rope Walk area

The new channel for the stream is in the process of being cut.

The new channel for the brook (3-11-07)
The line of the channel looking west
(Click for a larger image)
The new channel (3-11-07)
The line of the channel looking east
(Click for a larger image)

27st October '07

The Sluice at Brookend

During the week the excavations at the site of the Sluice at Brookend have started. The new tunnel has been started and some of the pipe liners have been delivered.

The site of the sluice (27-10-07)
The site of the sluice gate
(Click for a larger image)

The new culvert being built (27-10-07)
This is the start of the new culvert
(Click for a larger image)
Pipe liners (27-10-07)
These are some of the new pipe liners
(Click for a larger image)

Homs Road area
The flood defence work in Homs Road car park (27-10-07)
The flood defences in the Homs Road car park
(Click for a larger image)

The Homs Road works (27-10-07)
Silt trap at Homs Road
(Click for a larger image)
Homs Road Excavations (27-10-07)
The continuing excavations
(Click for a larger image)

The Homs Road work (27-10-07)
The excavations looking back from the Rowing Club
(Click for a larger image)

In the Homs Road area, excavations of the new channel for the brook are continuing. Also the new shaft is still being dug out and is now being constantly pumped out.


The Bund

Further excavations at the bund have been carried out to build up the bank for the bund. This is a temporary bund that is being built to allow the work downstream to continue throughout the winter. After this, the final bund will be built in this area. Everyday GPS position measuring equipment is used to check that the alignment of the banks exactly match the plan.

The flood defence work in around the bund (27-10-07)
The bund
(Click for a larger image)

21st October '07

The Sluice at Brookend
The site of the Sluice Gate (21-10-07)
The site of the Sluice Gate
(Click for a larger image)

The remaining part of the sluice wall has been removed along with the remaining sluice gate guide pillar. The Rudhall Brook has been diverted using sand bags whilst the work is ongoing.

The end of the old brick culvert carrying the Chatterley Brook1 can be clearly seen.


The diverted brook (21-10-07)
The diverted brook
(Click for a larger image)
The old culvert (21-10-07)
The end of the old culvert
(Click for a larger image)

The diverted brook II (21-10-07)
The diverted brook II
(Click for a larger image)

Homs Road area

The trees in the area around the end of the Homs Road car park have been cleared. The top of the liner of the newly sunk shaft can be clearly seen.

The flood defence work in Homs Road car park(21-10-07)
The flood defence work in Homs Road car park(21-10-07)
(Click for a larger image)

The crane and silt pump(21-10-07)
The crane and silt pump
(Click for a larger image)
The works looking back from the Rowing Club (21-10-07)
The works looking back from the Rowing Club
(Click for a larger image)

4th October '07

The Homs Road Culvert
The Homs Road shaft (4-10-07)
The shaft in the Homs Road car park
(Click for a larger image)

The Homs Road car park has had a large shaft sunk into it where the new culvert will either be accessed or will rise up.


A close up of the shaft (4-10-07)
A close up of the shaft
(Click for a larger image)

This crane appeared in the carpark recently and will be used during the construction.

The Homs Road crane (4-10-07)
The crane in the Homs Road car park
(Click for a larger image)

The Bund
The Bund (4-10-07)
The bund being built
(Click for a larger image)

To the east of the A40 bypass, a bund is being built. Here the water will be dammed up to help prevent the bottom of town from flooding. The water will then be released at a controlled rate so that the water courses can cope with the addition.

The Bund being built (4-10-07)
Another view of the bund being built
(Click for a larger image)

2nd October '07

Brookend Sluice

The area around the sluice has been cleared of bushes and trees. This is the area pretty much before the works start. The end of the original culvert from Kings Acre that goes towards Homs Road can be clearly seen.

The single remaining sluice guide can be seen beside the remains of the mill pond wall.

The sluice wall(2-10-07)
The sluice wall area
(Click for a larger image)
The Kings Acre to Homs Road culvert (2-10-07)
The Kings Acre to Homs Road culvert
(Click for a larger image)

The sluice area (2-10-07)
The sluice area
(Click for a larger image)
The sluice gate guide (2-10-07)
The sluice gate guide
(Click for a larger image)

29th September '07

The Homs Road car park has been partially closed off (it has since been completely closed off) as the work starts on the Kings Acre to Homs Road culvert.

Homs Road car park (29-9-07)
The Homs Road car park
(Click for a larger image)

17th June '07

In preparation for the Flood Alleviation work starting, core samples have been taken in Kings Acre car park and in the Home Road car park in order to determine the underlying geology of the area. This will help to give a more detailed indication of the ground conditions and rock types under the surface and thus give an early indication of the kind of problems that could occur.

Kings Acre car park (17-6-07)
The Kings Acre car park
(Click for a larger image)

Core sample drilling (17-6-07)
A core sample has been sunk
(Click for a larger image)
The drill (17-6-07)
Core sampling
(Click for a larger image)


next Flood alleviation work 2008


1 The brook referred to as the Chatterley Brook is actually a unnamed brook that flows from Weston-under-Penyard past Chackley Grove. It has only recently become referred to as the Chatterley Brook and locally it was previously known as Chackley Brook.



[Page updated: Feb 15 2011 13:31:58]






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