Member Article

£21m Morpeth flood protection contract for Birse Civils

North Yorkshire Balfour Beatty subsidiary has been awarded the contract to deliver a £21m flood alleviation scheme in Morpeth.

Birse Civils was appointed by The Environment Agency as part of their National Contractors Framework, and is the latest of over 20 schemes the firm has successfully delivered in the North East.

The works are due to be finished in autumn 2014 and will include construction of flood walls and embankments, and the extension of existing defences, as well as an earth embankment to store 1.4 million m of flood water.

Morpeth has experienced two extreme floods in the last 50 years. Following floods in 1963, defences were built in a number of areas of the town.

In 2008, over 1,000 properties were flooded by an event thought to have a 0.73% chance of occurring in any given year. Since 2008 a number of smaller flood events have also affected residents in the town.

The works comprise the construction of flood walls and embankments and the extension and refurbishment of existing defences. There will also be work to construct an earth embankment to store 1.4 million m3 of flood water, as well as tree poles and ancillary access works upstream of Lowford Bridge.

Various wildlife and including otters and crayfish, as well as flora and fauna, determine strict environmental controls on the works.

An information centre has been set up in Morpeth town centre which is manned daily by the Environment Agency to provide details on the scheme and answer queries from local community.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .