The facts
Project Location: River Darwen,
Lancashire
Client: Blackburn with Darwen Borough
Council
Services provided: Flood Risk Assessment,
Hydrology, Hydraulic Modelling, Land Drainage, Consent Application,
Environment Agency liaison.
The project
Capita Symonds is preparing plans for river restoration in the
Shorey Bank area of Darwen, Lancashire. The proposals involve
the deculverting of a section of the River Darwen and construction
of a new footbridge to improve access to the area for leisure and
recreation.
A Flood Risk Assessment and consent for works from the
Environment Agency were required to support this work as
significant changes to the geometry of the river channel have the
potential to impact on the level of flood risk at the site and
downstream.
Capita Symonds produced a hydraulic model to test the impacts of
the removal of an existing culvert on the River Darwen to maximise
the landscape and ecology benefits provided by the proposals and to
secure the necessary consents from the Environment Agency.
A one-dimensional (ISIS) hydraulic model of this reach of the
River Darwen has been developed in order to predict existing flood
levels and to allow an assessment of the impacts of the proposed
restoration works on flows and water levels in the river in a range
of flood events. The model will be used to optimise the new
channel design and maximise the landscape, ecological and amenity
benefits that can be provided by the scheme.