Flood defences downstream of Bridgwater barrier to finish this year
Construction is proceeding at a steady pace on the £249m tidal barrier
Flooding defences downstream of Bridgwater’s new tidal barrier will be completed before Christmas, according to the Environment Agency (EA).
Construction is proceeding at a steady pace on the £249m tidal barrier, which is being delivered across the River Parrett near the Express Park in Bridgwater and once complete will provide improved flood protection for more than 11,300 homes and 1,500 businesses.
The EA has been conducting a design efficiency review of the scheme to ensure it would continue to be cost-effective, changing the height of the proposed towers and utilising more modern methods of technology and construction in a bid to keep costs down.
Officers have now confirmed that defences being built downstream of the barrier will be completed before the end of the year – with an updated completion date for the scheme being made public by the end of the summer.
The EA provided an update on the barrier scheme when the Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) board met in Bridgwater on June 5.
Dr Rachel Burden, the EA’s project sponsor, said in her written report: “Significant progress has been made on site with the construction of the barrier.
“Construction of the temporary bypass channel is complete, and the channel is now safely carrying river flows around the in-river coffer-dam.
“Within the coffer-dam, tubular steel piles have been driven into the riverbed, and these will support the barrier structure.
“The contractor has excavated and pumped the central area of the coffer-dam dry, and is now working inside it, constructing the concrete substructure
of the barrier.
“Construction of the three towers is programmed to start later this financial year.”
At Chilton Trinity (on the left bank of the river), a three-kilometre haul road from Saltlands Lane (near the town’s household waste recycling centre) has been completed, allowing construction to begin shortly on the final 600 metres of secondary flood defences.
A similar haul road has been completed off the A38 between Dunball and Pawlett, with construction of defences just downstream of the Hinkley Point C park and ride facility to recommence by late-June.
Nigel Bennetts from the tidal barrier project team added: “We are anticipating that construction of the downstream defences will be completed this year.
“The implementation of a ‘design efficiency review’ in late-2025, has provided an opportunity to reassess and refine elements of the scheme design to mitigate increasing cost pressures.
“Through the review, the design of the barrier has been simplified, while maintaining the same level of flood protection.
“The review is ongoing, with further work under way to assess opportunities for efficiencies in areas such as the operational building and landscape design.
“An updated project timeline and cost forecast will be shared once the design efficiency review is complete later this summer.”
In early-2027, work will begin over a two-year period on 12 new fish and eel passes upstream from the barrier on the River Parrett and the River Tone, off-setting disruption expected when the barrier is operational.