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£6m flood defences on track to protect town

BBC A man in a yellow hi-vis jacket and blue helmet with the words Environment Agency printed in white across it. He is wearing a grey blazer jacket, blue shirt and dark blue tie. He has a red poppy on his right lapel.BBC
Anthony Perry said climate change is impacting the type of flooding the town experiences

New £6m flood defences in Bewdley, Worcestershire, are ahead of schedule and due for completion early next year.

Much of the engineering behind the scheme is currently visible, as a variety of techniques are deployed to hold back the Severn in full flood.

The defences protecting the area around Beales Corner pick from the best of those tried and found to work elsewhere in the Midlands.

On top of the flood wall, there will be glass panels similar to those first tried out in Upton. These provide protection from the river while also keeping the view for locals and visitors.

However, technology has moved on and the new panels will have the same strength but with thinner frames to let people see more.

A partially-erected metal flood barrier along a brick-cobbled street. It consists of strips of metal fencing placed between upright posts. A couple is looking over the barrier at the rising river.
The new scheme will have a much shorter stretch of demountable barriers than this existing scheme across the river

There are also flood gates, as installed earlier near Tewkesbury, and there will be a section of demountable flood barrier as extensively used in Bewdley itself on the other side of the river.

However, it will be a much shorter section, about a twentieth the size of the barriers across the bridge.

This is because the Environment Agency is looking to make these defences as passive as possible, meaning they work without a lot of extra effort.

Storing, putting up and taking down the defences takes time and involves big labour costs.

But Anthony Perry from the agency explained that as the climate changes, so too does the type of flooding.

"What we're finding is that the rainfall events are becoming more intense, more local, and the river is rising far quicker," he said.

This reduces the amount of time the agency has to erect temporary flood barriers, and having a shorter stretch in the new scheme goes some way to avoid the problem.

Environment Agency A metal-framed concrete wall is constructed a few metres from the river bank. Construction fencing and a digger are visible in the background.Environment Agency
This concrete flood wall has been sunk several metres into the ground and has been given a more attractive brick facing since these pictures in August

The concrete core of the defences is still visible in parts as a thick grey wall which actually extends seven to nine metres (23 to 30 feet) underground.

Most of its length has now been covered up with a more attractive brick coat.

Elsewhere, large trenches are visible as electricity cables and water pipes are diverted and re-laid.

The residents and businesses of Beales Corner have one more winter of looking anxiously at the weather forecast and the Severn, although the period up to Christmas is currently predicted to be fairly dry.

When all the work is finished, the new defences will protect a main road into and out of Bewdley, increasing the chance of the town remaining accessible and open for business during future floods.

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