Sheet Piling UK is carrying out works as part of a £10M flood defence scheme on the River Aire in Chapel Haddlesey, North Yorkshire.
The scheme will help to protect the village against the impacts of climate change. In February 2020 Storm Ciara brought unprecedented weather to communities in Lower Aire, while Yorkshire and the River Aire catchment experienced 3.5 times the average monthly rainfall.
As a result, Lower River Aire water spilled into the washlands, causing overflowing and damage to flood embankments, such as that at Chapel Haddlesey.
Sheet Piling UK is now helping to shore up flood defences, using permanent sheet pile installations within the riverbank as an anti-flood solution.
It is carrying out the two-phase project for Cheetham Hill Construction, which is working on behalf of the Environment Agency.
For both phases, Sheet Piling will install sheet piles into the river bank to strengthen the embankment and make it more resilient to flood waters.
The contractor will opt for conventional piling methods, since it will be working in locations with restricted access. This makes the use of equipment such as leader rigs, excavators with side-grip vibratory hammers or long-reach leader rigs much harder.
Instead, it will use a 110t lattice boom crawler crane, crane-suspended vibratory hammer, mobile elevating work platforms and temporary works piling gates. Sheet Piling designed the schedule of temporary works in-house.
So far, the contractor has installed 183, 6m and 12m long VL603 sheet piles as part of phase one.
It will install 69 pairs of 18m long Emirates Steel EZ26-700 sheet piles in phase two. It will tie these back using a Dywidag tie-bar system to a row of anchor Emirates Steel sheet piles installed at the crest of the embankment.
Sheet Piling UK’s managing director Andrew Cotton said: “Sometimes there is no alternative but to revert to conventional piling methods, as is the case here, but it is worth stating that not every piling contractor would have our in-depth expertise and knowledge of conventional piling.”
He added: “These flood defence works should provide more peace of mind to communities around the River Aire and our part in this will be completed very soon, hopefully well before any named storm threatens the area’s resilience once again.
“Steel sheet piles have proven highly effective in shoring up flood defences and we are increasingly working on schemes that are mitigating the impacts of climate change, both in England and Scotland. Climate change is not going away but at least sheet piling can help combat its destructive nature.”
Repairs to flood embankments on the Lower River Aire began towards the end of 2020.
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