Flood management |
Leeds flood scheme triumphs
Construction of a groundbreaking £200 million scheme to protect the English city of Leeds from extreme flood risk is complete
AFTER MORE THAN A decade of work and an investment of £200 million including the use of state- of-the-art engineering and infrastructure, the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme, led by Leeds City Council in partnership with the Environment Agency, offers dedicated flood defences to help protect more than 4000 homes and over a thousand businesses along the River Aire catchment in Leeds and neighbouring communities. It will also help protect more than 33,000 jobs in Leeds alone.
Above: Flood gate deployed Further information
To see a timelapse video of the construction of the site visit
https://youtu.be/ XD5qXlUMgrU.
Below: Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme Phase 1 Crown Point Weir
Completion of construction of the scheme was officially marked at the end of November 2024 with a celebration event at a new flood storage area by the riverside near Calverley in Leeds hosted by the Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor James Lewis, joined by representatives of project partners the Environment Agency, BAM Nuttall and Mott MacDonald, along with technical advisors AECOM, Bradford Council and other key stakeholders. “This is a very important and proud day for our city as the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme can now help protect thousands of homes, communities, businesses and jobs across Leeds and beyond from the increasing threat posed by flooding and climate change. We all remember the devastation and misery caused by Storm Eva and recent extreme weather events, and the confidence this scheme offers will be immeasurable in our city for decades to come,” commented Councillor James Lewis. The impact of the scheme offers a one-in-200-year level of protection plus climate change allowance against extreme flooding along the River Aire, as experienced following Storm Eva at Christmas 2015 which caused an estimated £36.8 million in direct costs of damage in Leeds and more than £500 million in recovery costs to the wider region. Mike Dugher, Yorkshire Area Director for the
Environment Agency, said: “Communities across Yorkshire have repeatedly experienced the devastating
effects flooding has on lives and livelihoods. The Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme exemplifies the power of partnership in achieving remarkable outcomes, integrating civil engineering works with natural flood risk management in the upper catchments, significantly reducing flood risk to Leeds city centre and the surrounding areas.”
Two phases The Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme has been carried
out in two phases. The first phase, completed in 2017, saw the creation of new moveable weir gates across the river at Crown Point and Knostrop together with merging work to the river and canal at Knostrop supported by new flood walls and embankments covering 4.5km through Leeds city centre and downstream to Woodlesford in keeping with the surrounding areas. The use of moveable weirs able to be raised and lowered to control river levels was the first time such technology had been used for flood defences in this way anywhere in the UK. The second phase covering the city centre and
upstream has been much larger in scope. Construction began in 2019, with engineering and infrastructure works carried out along 14 further kilometres of the river from Leeds City Station upstream along the A65 Kirkstall Road corridor to Apperley Bridge. It includes new raised flood defence walls, embankments, flow control structures and the removal of obstructions at various points through Armley, Kirkstall, Newlay and Apperley Bridge as well as protecting the historic Kirkstall Abbey site. “The impact of Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme
extends far beyond our involvement over the last ten years. This enhanced flood protection provides climate resilient flood protection for the city, and helps further unlock Leeds’s immense regeneration potential in the years ahead,” said John Wilkinson, Chief Operating Officer, BAM UK & Ireland, and Richard Risdon, Mott MacDonald UK & Europe Managing Director. A key feature of phase two is the largest infrastructure element of the entire scheme, the creation of a new controlled flood storage area near to Calverley. Chosen to be in a location away from populated areas, it has been designed to hold up to 1,800,000m3
of floodwater
(equivalent to 720 Olympic-sized swimming pools) temporarily in the event of extreme rainfall and river levels. The 200m long structure features two new moveable flood gates which can be raised and lowered to slowly release the water downstream in a controlled way once the threat of flooding has passed.
Environment and nature Alongside the infrastructure and engineering works,
38 | February 2025 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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