A major milestone has been reached on the Leigh Flood Barrier project for the Environment Agency, with the arrival of three new gates which will control the flow of water in the River Medway.
Due to their size, the gates were delivered in pieces and welded together on site. Each of the gates weigh approximately 12.5 tonnes and will be lifted into place by a 300 tonne crane with the first one being lifted into place this month.
The gate replacement, alongside the work being carried out to raise sections of the river embankment, means that the flood storage area (FSA) will be able to store almost 25% more water than its current capacity. In total the FSA will have the capacity to store over seven million cubic meters of flood water, helping to better protect a further 200 homes from flooding.
