News: £7m Rotherham flood alleviation works complete
The latest works to protect homes and businesses from flooding have been officially completed at Ickles Lock in Rotherham.
Rotherham Renaissance Flood Alleviation Scheme Phase 2A (RRFAS 2A) aims to provide flood defences to ensure that Rotherham town centre, including Rotherham Central Railway Station, are more resilient to future flood events.
Phase 2A provides flood defences from Ickles Lock to Centenary Way on the edge of the town centre. It links to earlier phases such as the £15m Phase 1 that was completed in 2008 and comprised of 1.7km of flood protection at Templeborough and the creation of the Centenary Wetland.
A 125-metre-long concrete wall built between the railway and canal from Ickles Lock to Centenary Way will now better protect businesses and the railway from floods. Rotherham Council and its partners have invested £7m to complete this latest phase of works, which was due to be completed in 2022.
Cllr Dominic Beck, Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment at Rotherham Council, said: “We’re dedicated to delivering flood alleviation projects and work with communities and businesses to develop flood resilience measures in the worst-affected areas. This flood wall will protect another part of our town from flooding and the awful impact it can have on peoples’ homes and businesses.
“This is just the latest step in a Council Flood Alleviation scheme that is making great strides to protect our town, as we’ll be carrying out further works at six more locations as part of the scheme. We’re also working hard as a Council to reduce the carbon emissions that are widely seen as a cause of global warming and some heavy rains.”
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Flood defence works at nearby Forge Island, completed in 2020, are enabling the current regeneration of the site to go ahead unhindered. Around 400 businesses, railways, tram networks and main roads will be better protected by RRFAS when it’s complete. These include the A630, A633, A6123, Rotherham Central Station and Parkgate Station.
A colourful mural that pays homage to the town’s cultural and industrial heritage was officially unveiled at Ickles Lock by local representatives and the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Jim McMahon MP.
Darren Blank, Project Manager at Jackson Civil Engineering said: “The project has been a massive challenge in both pre-construction and delivery. We have been working on the scheme for over three years so this really is the culmination of huge stakeholder engagement and collaboration and excellence from the site team and our supply chain. The final product is testament to all of this and I am proud to have been a part of it."
Artists Anthony Donnelly of Urban Canvas and Phil Padfield of AFFIX Art painted the flood wall and switch back cycle ramp next to Ickles Lock. The designs strike a balance between nature and offer a fitting nod to the past and Rotherham’s industrial heritage, while helping to communicate the ambition and pride of the town and its people. The colours and textures used also provide harmony to the design.
This project has received £4.37m of funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in addition to £2m of funding from South Yorkshire Combined Mayoral Authority (SYMCA) and £2m from Rotherham Council's Town Centre Investment Fund.
RRFAS website
Images: RMBC
Rotherham Renaissance Flood Alleviation Scheme Phase 2A (RRFAS 2A) aims to provide flood defences to ensure that Rotherham town centre, including Rotherham Central Railway Station, are more resilient to future flood events.
Phase 2A provides flood defences from Ickles Lock to Centenary Way on the edge of the town centre. It links to earlier phases such as the £15m Phase 1 that was completed in 2008 and comprised of 1.7km of flood protection at Templeborough and the creation of the Centenary Wetland.
A 125-metre-long concrete wall built between the railway and canal from Ickles Lock to Centenary Way will now better protect businesses and the railway from floods. Rotherham Council and its partners have invested £7m to complete this latest phase of works, which was due to be completed in 2022.
Cllr Dominic Beck, Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment at Rotherham Council, said: “We’re dedicated to delivering flood alleviation projects and work with communities and businesses to develop flood resilience measures in the worst-affected areas. This flood wall will protect another part of our town from flooding and the awful impact it can have on peoples’ homes and businesses.
“This is just the latest step in a Council Flood Alleviation scheme that is making great strides to protect our town, as we’ll be carrying out further works at six more locations as part of the scheme. We’re also working hard as a Council to reduce the carbon emissions that are widely seen as a cause of global warming and some heavy rains.”
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Flood defence works at nearby Forge Island, completed in 2020, are enabling the current regeneration of the site to go ahead unhindered. Around 400 businesses, railways, tram networks and main roads will be better protected by RRFAS when it’s complete. These include the A630, A633, A6123, Rotherham Central Station and Parkgate Station.
A colourful mural that pays homage to the town’s cultural and industrial heritage was officially unveiled at Ickles Lock by local representatives and the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Jim McMahon MP.
Darren Blank, Project Manager at Jackson Civil Engineering said: “The project has been a massive challenge in both pre-construction and delivery. We have been working on the scheme for over three years so this really is the culmination of huge stakeholder engagement and collaboration and excellence from the site team and our supply chain. The final product is testament to all of this and I am proud to have been a part of it."
Artists Anthony Donnelly of Urban Canvas and Phil Padfield of AFFIX Art painted the flood wall and switch back cycle ramp next to Ickles Lock. The designs strike a balance between nature and offer a fitting nod to the past and Rotherham’s industrial heritage, while helping to communicate the ambition and pride of the town and its people. The colours and textures used also provide harmony to the design.
This project has received £4.37m of funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in addition to £2m of funding from South Yorkshire Combined Mayoral Authority (SYMCA) and £2m from Rotherham Council's Town Centre Investment Fund.
RRFAS website
Images: RMBC
3 comments:
I think that over the coming years we are going to need a hell of a lot more investment in flood defences but every incremental improvement is to be welcomed.
If the government doesn't start treating climate change seriously flood defences are irrelevant.
Given that the railway station was flooded last week (October 2023) can we assume the works aren't a success?
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