Weedon Flood Storage Scheme - the Biggest Hydro-Brakereg; in the World

摘要

The Northamptonshire villages around Weedon in the upper River Nene valley, suffered disastrous flooding in 1947, 1992 and 1998, with Weedon Bec being particularly badly affected. The channel through the village is constricted by historic developments and the opportunity to enlarge the channels was not available. Restricted culverts under the railway embankments downstream compounded the flood situation. To alleviate the problem the Environment Agency and Halcrow Group developed an upstream on-line storage reservoir scheme. The project includes a 450m long, 6.8m high clay embankment across the valley, with a culvert on the line of the original river channel to carry the controlled outflow. A 150m long concrete-block spillway carries excess flood flows over the embankment. The embankment site has been landscaped to minimise visual impacts and the borrow area has been developed into a large wetland area as a habitat for aquatic flora and fauna.