Severn fish pass project is unlocked
AFTER nearly three months of championing new ways of working due to the coronavirus pandemic, environmental engineering company Land & Water is resuming the construction of one of four fish passes along the River Severn in Worcestershire on behalf of its client, Kier.
As part of the project – known as Unlocking the Severn – Land & Water aims to construct a large deep vertical slot for a fish pass at Holt Weir. This is essential for the rare migratory fish, the shad, to travel to their natural spawning grounds. The fish pass will also benefit salmon, eels and lamprey. This project is one of the largest river restorations of its kind ever to be attempted in Europe.
Lucy Lee, contract manager at Land & Water, said: “Despite being previously delayed due to the prolonged River Severn flooding over the winter months, we now have a great chance to take advantage of the drier summer weather and lower river levels, making work easier and safer for our team.”
The company has prioritised the development of safe working practices, in accordance with government guidelines, to ensure that work can be carried out without posing a risk to its employees or the public.
Programme director Jason Leach said: “It is important to us that we have the social distancing rules in place to protect our staff and the general public, while ensuring as little disruption as possible.
“We have worked with construction company Kier so that we can adapt to the current challenging conditions, delivering the project in a safe and timely manner.”
Works on site will include establishing site access and compounds upstream of the weir, the construction of a small slipway and offloading point and the installation of a large temporary dam structure within the river to prevent water ingress into the works area. The large mass dam is being installed from a floating pontoon.
Land & Water’s team will also excavate the bank, using its specialist long reach excavators and tracked dumpers to make working on the bankside easier and safe.
Meanwhile, it will oversee permanent solutions in the form of soil nailing and the installation of large-scale Legato blocks, using a 100-tonne crane and 16-piece Ravestein pontoon to achieve this.
Finally, engineering landscaping will be managed as part of this project, including erosion protection and amenity improvement of the area.
Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the European Union LIFE programme, Unlocking the Severn will also deliver ambitious heritage, education and science programmes that aim to reconnect eight million people with the river.