Highway Flood Damage

 

As a result of the floods in South Yorkshire in June 2007 some roads in Sheffield were badly damaged.  This was mainly in the north of Sheffield.  The A61 near the Crown Inn was partly closed, however this was fully reopened on Sunday 13 April 2008.  The A6102 at the Middlewood Tavern was fully closed.  The repair work being carried out by Sheffield City Council and Carillion, our contractor, at the Middlewood Tavern and Paper Mill site is progressing well and should hopefully be reopened for Christmas.  As well as these 2 major access points into the city, several industrial and minor roads were also damaged.

 

The A6102 Middlewood Road, Middlewood Tavern and Paper Mill sites, fully re-opened on Friday 12 December 2008.

 

Please follow the links below for more detailed information:

 

 

 

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As a result of the storm, the River Don rose by 2 - 3 metres causing part of the embankment supporting the road to collapse.  The road at this point is raised 12 metres above the river.

 

The collapse at British Tissues Paper Mill site was not as severe as near the Middlewood Tavern.

 

 

The City Council originally employed a firm of civil engineering consultants to carry out a detailed geotechnical (make up of the ground) survey at this site to advise on a solution to repair the damage. 

 

The City Council worked with the consultants to develop a solution; this will entail extensive work including a piled wall.  The limited access, poor ground conditions and proximity of the river all make the work very complex.

 

A diagram of the proposed work to be carried out can be downlaoded below.

 

Following an advert in the European Journal (this process is required by legislation) 22 contractors expressed an interest in tendering for this and the Middlewood Tavern site.  A short list of 6 was prepared and the schemes sent out to tender.  After evaluation of the returned tenders Carillion was appointed as main contractor.

 

Carillion started work on Monday 19 May 2008 to repair the damage.  The A6102 fully reopened on Friday 12 December 2008.

 

 

At the Paper Mill site, one traffic lane under the control of traffic signals and one footway remained open throughout the work.

 

Over 60 piles were drilled 2.5 metres into the rock of the river bed.  Then, the concrete capping beam which holds together all the piles to form the new riverside wall was completed.  The level of the capping beam has been set to the latest flood advice and data supplied by the Environment Agency to avoid future problems.

 

Next, the rock protection for the beam was placed to form a river bank.  The rock was obtained locally so it blends in with the existing river bed.  After this the rebuilding of the embankment slope began.  This was done using a system called “reinforced earth” that involves placing layers of rock fill and soil all reinforced using a plastic mesh.  The soil has been pre-seeded so that the embankment will be green.

 

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As a result of the storm, the River Don rose by 2 - 3 metres at this point on the A6102, near to the Middlewood Tavern.  This caused part of the embankment supporting the road to collapse.  The road at this point is raised 18 metres above the river.

 

The collapse near to the Middlewood Tavern was severe.  It was considered unsafe to allow vehicular traffic to pass so the road was closed.  However pedestrian and cycle access was maintained through the site.

  

 

The City Council originally employed a firm of civil engineering consultants to carry out a detailed geotechnical survey at this site to advise on a solution to repair the damage.  The consultants advised that it was not safe to re-open the road at Middlewood Tavern for traffic, until a permanent repair had been completed.

 

The City Council worked with the consultants to develop a solution; this will entail extensive work including a piled wall.  The limited access, poor ground conditions and proximity of the river all make the work very complex.

 

A diagram of the proposed work to be carried out can be downloaded below.
 

Following an advert in the European Journal (this process is required by legislation) 22 contractors expressed an interest in tendering for this and the Paper Mill (British Tissues) site.  A short list of 6 was prepared and the schemes sent out to tender.  After evaluation of the returned tenders Carillion was appointed as main contractor.

 

Carillion started work on Monday 19 May 2008 to repair the damage.  The road was fully re-opened on Friday 12 December 2008.

 

Whilst carrying out work at the Middlewood Tavern site, the road remained closed to motor vehicles, however, pedestrians and dismounted cyclists were able to walk through the site via a walkway. Our Contractor, Carillion, and Yorkshire Water worked extended hours to ensure that the road was fully re-opened on Friday 12 December 2008.

 

Over 200 piles were drilled 2.5 metres into the rock of the river bed.  Then the concrete capping beam which holds together all the piles to form the new riverside wall was completed.  The level of the capping beam has been set to the latest flood advice and data supplied by the Environment Agency to avoid future problems.

 

The rock protection for the new wall was then placed to form a river bank.  The rock has been obtained locally so it blends in with the existing river bed.  The rebuilding of the embankment slope used a system called “reinforced earth” that involved placing layers of rock fill and soil all reinforced using a plastic mesh.  The soil has been pre-seeded so that the embankment will be green.

 

Difficulties were overcome which included the relaying of the 36 inch diameter water main, reconnecting the gas main and street lighting cables.  These tasks could only be done once the embankment was completed and stable making it safe to work on the road.

 

Diagrams showing the actual storm damage at this location can be downloaded below.

 

 

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As shown in the picture, the River Don took away a large section of the road.  Some temporary protection work has been carried out by Yorkshire Water to protect their water main, which runs under the road.  In the meantime single way working will be maintained.

 

Work started in October 2008 to build a new wall, with completion planned for April 2009.  The works have to be approved by the Environment Agency and co-ordinated with Yorkshire Water who are relaying a sewer from Winn Gardens that was damaged in the 2007 storm.

 

As a number of services...

 

 

...run under Claywheels Lane.  This has caused some difficulties when deciding on the best way to rebuild the road and reduce the impact on these services.  These have now been overcome.

 

Diagrams showing the actual storm damage at this location can be downloaded below.

 

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At the height of the flood, the stone arch bridge over the River Don, which joined Livesey Street to Club Mill Road, was completely destroyed.  Currently a feasibility study and geotechnical (make up of the ground) survey for the replacement is being carried out.  The diversion route to the properties on Club Mill Road is via Penistone Road, Neepsend Lane, Hillfoot Bridge, Hoyland Road and Sandbed Road leading to Club Mill Road.  The work on a replacement started November 2008 with completion planned for May 2009.

 

 

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The Meadowhall Road river boundary wall was washed away at the height of the flood.  As shown in the picture, the wall has been rebuilt to ground level and a substantial barrier guard rail installed.  Road and footpath resurfacing were completed October 2008.

 

 

Should the river flood again at this point the guard rail allows the water to flow through it and back into the river further along its course leaving the river guard rail in place once the water goes down so it can still do its job of guarding to prevent pedestrians falling or vehicles veering into the river.  

 

Maps and diagrams: