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DESIGNERS OF Berkshire's flawed Jubilee River
flood channel are finally being sued, three and
a half years after floods ripped through homes
the channel was designed to protect.
The Environment Agency has started legal
proceedings against consultant Lewin, Fryer &
Partners (LFP) for the design of the structures
damaged during the January 2003 floods and the
costs of repairing them.
LFP, now part of Black & Veatch, was consultant
throughout 20 years of feasibility studies,
planning, design, public inquiry and
construction on the £110M scheme, which opened
in November 2001.
The 11km long channel was intended to relieve
flooding by diverting water surges of up to 215m
3/s from the River Thames around Maidenhead,
Windsor and Eton.
But in January 2003, a peak flow of 144m 3/s
caused major damage to the channel. There was
widespread flooding downstream of the confluence
of the channel with the Thames near Datchet.
Residents' groups claimed that water flowed
through the embankments and into Datchet.
Investigations by consultant Atkins revealed a
catalogue of design and construction defects
limiting the channel's capacity to just two
thirds of its design capacity.
They included fundamental mistakes like building
banks too low, using inappropriate materials and
failing to follow standard design criteria (NCE
19/26 August 2004).
The Environment Agency has since spent £3.5M
carrying out repairs and raising banks. This
work has increased capacity to 170m 3/s, and
more work this summer is aimed at raising
capacity further. But the Agency accepts that
the full design capacity may never be achieved.
"We are working to enhance the current capacity
of the Jubilee River through raising bank
heights along targeted stretches of the river, "
the Agency said in a statement.
"Further planned works are the construction of a
flood wall at Blackpotts, raising the bank
height downstream of the Myrke Foot bridge,
raising the bank height up stream of Chalvey
rail bridge, and raising the bank height
upstream of the A4 road bridge. These will be
completed in 2006." |
