A BAM Nuttall and Mott Macdonald joint venture has been awarded a works contract for a flood alleviation scheme in Leeds, designed to provide Leeds homes and businesses with protection from a 1 in 75 year flood from the River Aire and Hol Beck.
The joint venture was procured by Leeds City Council via the Environment Agency’s Water and Environment Management (WEM) framework, and will carry out works over a 4.3km stretch from the city’s mainline railway station to just below Knostrop weir.
As part of the works, fixed weirs will be replaced with moveable weirs which can be lowered in flood conditions to reduce river levels, and an island at Knostrop Cut will be removed. This will allow the river and canal to merge which will assist the flow of water in a flood. Additionally, linear flood defences such as walls and hard landscaping will be constructed.
The project is scheduled to complete in March 2017.