Nov/Dec 2021
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27
News
£250k lake desilting project gets under way
T
he long-awaited project to desilt the lake in Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve finally got under way on Monday 1st November when South Gloucestershire Council’s specialist contractor Land & Water Services Ltd moved onto the site. The £250,000 scheme, which requires the removal of up to 4,000 cubic metres of silt, is intended to improve the wetland area for wildlife and visitors, increase resistance to flooding and enhance local biodiversity. The work got off to a slow start as heavy rain at the end of October had resulted in the lake flooding (again!), forcing the contractors to amend their method of operation, and requiring additional equipment to be brought in to enable desilting to continue should the water levels remain high. The path around the north side of the lake was closed from the 1st November, but the path leading north from the lake, towards the community orchard and Savages Wood, remained open for the first week. The amphibious excavator finally arrived on site on the morning of Tuesday 8th November and the path up to the community orchard was closed later that day. This route is being used by trucks taking excavated silt to the spoil dumping site
around 500m north of the lake. In contrast to the path around the lake, this route is only closed Monday-Friday. Maps and waymarker signs are in place to advise people of the alternative routes to follow. The project is expected to take 6 weeks to complete, i.e. until mid-December. Looking to the future, South Gloucestershire Council has been working with the Environment Agency to explore ways to reduce the amount of silt entering the lake system. A council spokesperson said: “The Three Brooks Lake project is part of our long-term commitment to managing the local environment and tackling the effects of flash flooding. We have started the first of a series of planned natural flood management schemes to slow the flow of water into the main lake. In late October, ahead of the desilting works, we worked with Bristol Avon Rivers Trust and local volunteers to set up a series of berms, made from chestnut poles and hazel brash, which encourages the water flow to meander round the berms so the silt is more likely to settle before it reaches the lake. Plans are underway for further natural flood management initiatives including a project to slow the flow where Hortham and Patchway Brooks meet, in 2022.” Top: A specialist amphibious excavator at work in Three Brooks Lake, scooping out silt and moving it towards the bank, from where it can be picked up by a long-reach excavator and transferred to a waiting dumper truck.
Volunteers from Bristol Avon Rivers Trust construct a berm in Stoke Brook as part of the first of a series of planned natural flood management schemes
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