22/06/2005 - A culvert
that carries the Hawkcombe Stream beneath
Porlock High Street is being refurbished by
the Environment Agency to reduce the risk
of flooding in the Somerset town.
Work has started this week on the 87 metre
long culvert, which runs beneath the Overstream
Guest House and is at risk of becoming blocked
with shingle which is washed down from further
up the stream.
The shingle blockages increased the flood
risk to Porlock village centre. They are also
difficult and potentially dangerous to clear,
involving sending workers down into the culvert.
Now the culvert is being made narrower which
increases the speed of the water flow and
so washes the shingle through.
The majority of the work will take place
within the culvert and will therefore be out
of view.
The work will last six weeks, and the £73,000
contract has been awarded to Van Oord UK Ltd
under the National Contractors Framework.
The works were designed, and will be supervised
by, Royal Haskoning UK Ltd.
Kevin Woodley from the Environment Agency
said: "It might at first seem strange
to be making the culvert narrower to reduce
the risk of a blockage. But we have sought
expert design advice and modelling, and by
narrowing the culvert we can make the water
flow significantly faster which easily washes
the shingle through and out the other side.
"We put reducing the risk of flooding
as a high priority and this work is just one
of a large number of initiatives we are working
on throughout the South West."
