Latest phase of flood defence work to protect hundreds more properties

The Environment Agency has reached another major in the development of York Flood Alleviation Scheme as construction starts in four areas of the city.

• New larger floodgate to be installed under Lendal Bridge to better protect businesses and roads in the city
• New flood wall being built in Bishopthorpe to reduce flood risk in village
• Preparation work also starting in Marygate area (including Museum Gardens), as well as plans for work on Terry Avenue (by Rowntree Park)

Work is starting this week under Lendal Bridge on Wellington Row to prepare for the installation of a new, larger floodgate and construction has begun on Chantry Lane in Bishopthorpe.

Preparations are also being made for the start of work in the Marygate area and Museum Gardens, as well as on Terry Avenue near Rowntree Park.

The Lendal Bridge floodgate installation is the last stage of the Environment Agency’s work from Ouse Bridge to Scarborough Bridge on the station side, which has included raising defences along North Street Gardens and Memorial Gardens.

This section of the flood scheme better protects 39 homes and businesses from flooding, as well as access roads.

The Bishopthorpe work includes the construction of a 180 metre-long flood wall running along Chantry Lane and the boundary of the palace grounds, incorporating a six metre-deep steel barrier underground; a floodgate across the bottom of Chantry Lane and water flow mechanism.

This reduces the risk of flooding to 117 properties, as well as Main Street, therefore helping to protect access for residents in the south of the village.

Elsewhere in the city, a site compound will be built in Marygate car park to facilitate the raising of the flood embankment in the Museum Gardens, as well as increasing the height of the flood walls and gates between Scarborough Bridge and Museum Gardens, including installing glass panels on top of the defences along Earlsborough Terrace.

It will reduce the risk of flooding to 57 homes and businesses in the Marygate area.

A site compound was established on the playing field in Rowntree Park last month to enable construction work to take place on the Clementhorpe section of the scheme, between Skeldergate Bridge and Millennium Bridge.

Construction on Terry Avenue will include complex underground work, with a 240 metre-long and six metre-deep semi-permeable barrier being installed in order to prevent flood waters seeping through the ground and undermining overground flood defences.

Once completed, the Clementhorpe section of the flood scheme will provide improved flood protection to 135 homes and businesses.

Ben Hughes, director of the Environment Agency’s York Flood Alleviation Scheme, said: “This is a big month for the York Flood Alleviation Scheme.

“We’re very pleased that further work is starting to reduce the risk of flood to homes and businesses, as well as infrastructure. It’s great news for the city.

“We understand that parts of the work could be inconvenient for some people, including walkers and cyclists who use the riverside route, but the York Flood Alleviation Scheme essential for long-term resilience of the city, which, as we’re all too aware, is prone to flooding.”

In total, the Environment Agency is investing £45m in the York Flood Alleviation Scheme to better protect 2,000 homes and businesses in the city.