Highway Flood Damage
Reconstruction Update - 26 September 2008
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.
Please follow the links below for more detailed information:
A6102 Middlewood Road - Paper Mill (British Tissues) Site
The Damage
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.
Repairs
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 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 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. It is expected that this work will enable the A6102 to be fully reopened by Christmas 2008.
Paper Mill Construction Site
At the Paper Mill site, one traffic lane under the control of traffic signals and one footway will remain open throughout the work.
Works on the new piled wall are nearing completion; over 60 piles have been drilled 2.5 metres into the rock of the river bed. The next task will be to complete the concrete capping beam which holds together all the piles to form the new riverside wall. 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.
Once the beam is in place the rock protection for it will be placed to form a river bank. The rock has been obtained locally so it blends in with the existing river bed. Once this is done the rebuilding of the embankment slope can begin. This will be done using a system called “reinforced earth” that involves placing layers of rock fill and soil all reinforced using a plastic mesh. The soil will be pre-seeded so that the embankment will be green.
A6102 Middlewood Road - Middlewood Tavern Site
The Damage
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.
Repairs
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. It is expected that this work will enable the road to be fully reopened by Christmas 2008.
Middlewood Tavern Construction Site
Whilst carrying out work at the Middlewood Tavern site, the road will remain closed to motor vehicles, however, pedestrians and dismounted cyclists will be able to walk through the site via a raised walkway.
Works on the new piled wall are complete; over 200 piles have been drilled 2.5 metres into the rock of the river bed. The concrete capping beam which holds together all the piles to form the new riverside wall is in place and 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 is being 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 has begun using a system called “reinforced earth” that involves placing layers of rock fill and soil all reinforced using a plastic mesh. The soil will be pre-seeded so that the embankment will be green.
There are still difficulties to be overcome which include the relaying of the 36 inch diameter water main, reconnecting the gas main and street lighting cables. These tasks can only be done once the embankment is completed and stable making it is safe to work on the road.
Diagrams showing the actual storm damage at this location can be downloaded below.
Sheffield City Council will ensure that the existing diversion route for vehicles will be regularly inspected and maintained during the work.
Road Safety Measures on the A6102 Diversion Route
Works to improve road safety, following public meetings and consultations to identify measures that needed to be put in place on the diversion routes, have been agreed by the Council and are now complete, these include:
- resurfacing of Mowson and Stockarth Lane
- improved signing on the diversion
- zebra crossings at Worral Village and Church Street, Oughtibridge
- speed reduction measures on Station Lane, Oughtibridge
Claywheels Lane
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 is expected to start in October to build a new wall. 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...
- 33 inch and 10 inch diameter water mains
- another sewer – in addition to the damaged one being replaced
- a gas main
- high voltage electricity cables
...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.
Livesey Street Bridge
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 is expected to start November 2008 with completion May 2009.
Meadowhall Road Wall
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 should be completed by October 2008.
Why a guard rail?
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.
Downloads
This PDF document is a map that shows the local and HGV diversion route in place due to the closure of the A6102 Middlewood Road adjacent to The Middlewood Tavern. (688 KB)
This is a single page PDF document that has a schematic section of the proposed work to be carried out to repair the damage caused by the storm (111 KB)
This is a two page PDF document that has a schematic plan and section of the storm damage caused to the A6102 Middlewood Road adjacent to The Middlewood Tavern (549 KB)
This is a two page PDF document that has a schematic plan and section of the storm damage caused to Claywheels Lane (462 KB)
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