River Steeping Update - Issue 9 August 2020

This is a further update on progress since the launch of the Steeping Catchment Action Plan in April. More activities to reduce flood risk are starting soon that we would like to tell you about. The Environment Agency and Lindsey Marsh Drainage Board will be:

 Setting up a site compound in mid-September for machinery ahead of targeted dredging.

 Creating a new ‘settling lagoon’ just off Brewster Lane near Bycroft Bridge – similar to photo shown right. The dredged mixture of silt and water will be pumped here and allowed to settle. The water will run into nearby drains and silt will eventually be mixed into the land.

Another two settling lagoons are also needed. These will be located near the junction of the Wainfleet Relief Channel (WRC) and Steeping River east of Wainfleet, and close to Lenton’s Bridge on the WRC in 2021.

 Completing weed cutting by mid-September using a boat and an excavator fitted with a weed rake – see photo left – to get the roots out of the middle of the river ready for dredging. Some reeds are left on the sides of the banks to help to stabilise it and prevent slips, which cause weak places. They also act as good habitat for fish.

 Reinforcing low spots on the defences and repairing erosion on the right-hand river bank at the top of the WRC downstream of Thorpe Culvert.

Completed maintenance

Grass cutting throughout the catchment has now been completed. This encourages good grass cover, which helps protect and bind the surface of a river bank and means it can be inspected more easily to monitor the condition of the defences. Repairs to strengthen a 150m stretch of the river banks at Croft Lane and remove shrubs to reduce flood risk have also finished.

Dredging

The first phase will start at Thorpe Culvert in late September on the WRC, west of the railway, and then moving down the Steeping River to clear the section down towards Dovecotes Farm. The Cutter Suction Dredger will then clear the eastern end of the WRC up to the railway. This work will be carried out in 2020 and then the dredger will be remobilised in autumn 2021 to clear the central section of the WRC upstream of Lenton’s Bridge. Removing the weed roots from the bottom of the river means the dredger, operating from a floating barge, can work more efficiently to remove silt in locations where it has built up – see photo. The cutter head on the barge cuts into the silt.

Look here bit.ly/2FCZS84 to see the kind of activity you will see when dredging starts.

This clip bit.ly/3iXtYld (30 seconds in) explains what Cutter Suction Dredging is.

The Catchment Action Plan can be viewed online here: www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/flood2019