Investigations to take place along Boston watercourse to see if bank needs to be restored or raised
Work is to take place along the South Forty Foot Drain, in Boston, to establish the stability and integrity of the bank, but also examine whether it needs to be raised to protect against flooding.
The Environment Agency (EA) is to carry out ground investigations along a section of the watercourse near the junction of Wyberton West Road and Park Road.
It will include the digging of boreholes and installation of monitoring equipment to enable the EA to assess changes in groundwater levels over a period of 12 months, nearby residents have been told.
This section of the drain burst its banks in January, flooding 38 homes. A subsequent report from Lincolnshire County Council said the incident was caused by low pressures from the Atlantic, which resulted in heavy rainfall and snow across Lincolnshire.
However, the EA told The Standard the ground investigations were already scheduled to take place. The flooding, it said, ‘highlighted the importance of this work and broadened its relevance’.
A spokesman said: “We remain committed to working with partners and the community to ensure robust and sustainable flood defences for the area.
“Ground investigation works on the South Forty Foot Drain, with the initial focus on the reported seepage through the flood bank, are scheduled to start in late November or early December, subject to getting the relevant permissions in place.
“The investigation will inform future designs if work is required for restoring the flood bank and, if necessary, raising its height to meet the Environment Agency’s flood protection standards.”
The EA stressed that the work does not guarantee upgrades. Any decisions on improvements will be based on the findings of the investigation, alongside other technical and strategic considerations, as well as the securing of funding.
It added, though, that steps have already been taken in the area, including renewing the joints in flood walls.
It said it has also completed a survey that will feed into a review of its hydraulic modelling. This modelling, it explained, will help determine the appropriate flood defence height required to protect against a flood event, in line with its design criteria.
Following January’s flooding, Black Sluice Drainage Board called for the decision to decommission the Black Sluice Pumping Station to be revisited, arguing that the facility may have helped prevent flooding.
At the time, the EA said: “This decision (made in 2018) was based on a four-year modelling study, which showed that whilst the pumping station makes a small difference to flood risk, this reduction in risk could not outweigh the cost of refurbishing and running the asset for the future. In addition, current use of the navigation lock has been proven to discharge the same amount of water, if not more, from the South Forty Foot catchment than the pumping station can.”
Asked about if there had been any change on this position, the EA said it currently has no plans to re-commission the site.