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Upton Dyke


Poppy

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14 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

Perhaps I should add that the only reason that reeds can now be allowed to grow on the bank is because of the enormous improvement to water quality, which allows them to grow, instead of die off, as they did before. This is why steel banks had to be built, to protect against wash erosion, which is what the reed used to do in the first place!

So maybe, in this case, we are making valuable progress?

Bare in mind that this is Environment Agency work and like Vaughan I also believe that we are making valuable progress. When it comes to river work those blokes get on with the job in hand and generally, but not always, get it absolutely right. Where there is a gripe then it has to be the loss of moorings and the lack of will in providing alternatives.

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I have to say I find myself having a lot of commonality with Vaughan and indeed PW on this issue. In fact here, the piling here at Upton was put in because it was the actual flood bank  but now the flood bank has been moved further back, the piling is rather superfluous.

This replacement of the original bank with a graded profile has been used almost everywhere in Broadland with some success and I am not sure there is any real evidence that it does not work? Or is there? The Chet is a little different and not really comparable as the issues down that river were much more complex with unstable land

There are to my knowledge, plenty of places where it has been done successfully and where there is really no evidence of erosion, and in places where boat traffic is significantly higher. The Ant downstream of How Hill had all that piling removed several years ago, and to be honest you just would not know going up that bit now. Equally, the bit downstream of Ludham was similarly graded and again, there seems little evidence of either the river narrowing, or it getting shallower.

Remember too the BA's only role is that of planning , and like it or not , any refusal would almost certainly be appealed by BESL, probably successfully, with costs awarded against the BA.

Going back to basics however, it revolves almost entirely around cost - whilst the steel piling was part of the flood defences, the maintenance cost was against the EA, but now that is removed, its going to be on the BA. Is that what we really want? Do we want anymore unnecessary cost on that body? My guess is that it may even be cheaper to dredge the dyke if and when necessary, rather than replace the steel piling at some date and if erosion is not seen, then its probably win /win.

 

 

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I have seen this sort of work going on in French commercial waterways for many years. Allied with mud pumping, as we were discussing elsewhere.

It looks quite ghastly when they are doing it, but you need to give it a few years to "soften" into the landscape and then you see how good it looks.

By that time, of course, you have forgotten all the work that went into creating it, and you assume it always looked that that!

"Natural beauty" and all that. . . . 

Isn't this the "history" of the Norfolk Broads, over the last 100 years or more?

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  • 1 month later...

If you read the posts, you will see that the role, or otherwise, of the BA is as a planning authority - whilst they can of course refuse it, you have to have pretty good grounds to do so otherwise the EA would just appeal!! As the EA are carrying out a flood alleviation plan, what chance that the appeal would be successful - this leaves the costs being paid by the planning authority.

As Vaughan says, correctly, the soft banks are so much better than the hard piles and require little or no maintenance once the vegetation regrows, usually about 12mths rather than 10 years!!

I challenge anyone who disagrees with that approach to go to the Ant where this process was carried out all the way from How Hill to the mouth, and if people are determined enough , these new banks can be used for mooring as is happening again in some places such as Fleet Dyke.

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38 minutes ago, marshman said:

I challenge anyone who disagrees with that approach to go to the Ant where this process was carried out all the way from How Hill to the mouth, and if people are determined enough , these new banks can be used for mooring as is happening again in some places such as Fleet Dyke.

That's what your rhond hooks are for!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I saw a Pegasus 800 yacht get stuck on the 'new' profiled bank today. Fairly strong NE winds caught him and put him on a lee shore. He got off eventually. According to one who knows and is there almost every day, the averave groundings are running at about on a week so far thei season.

It will probably get worse........:facepalm:

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Can't blame the bank, nor the Authority, for a sailing boating running onto a lee shore! 

The result of the Pegasus running aground is that the geotextile that is there to help the bank become re-established has probably been torn by the keel, or keels, of the grounded boat meaning that the mud will be washed out of the new bank.  

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Just now, JennyMorgan said:

Can't blame the bank, nor the Authority, for a sailing boating running onto a lee shore! 

The result of the Pegasus running aground is that the geotextile that is there to help the bank become re-established has probably been torn by the keel, or keels, of the grounded boat meaning that the mud will be washed out of the new bank.  

He was motoring..... Strong winds blew him on.  Only an idiot sails anything other than a small dingy down ( or up) Upton dyke!

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I saw one of Richo's 44ft finest turn about halfway down the dyke two weeks ago. The method seemed to involve reversing till the fenders made the boat bounce of the quayheading and forward until the bow rode up the profiled bank and dropped back down again. 20 attempts later they made it round and promptly departed. 

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55 minutes ago, kfurbank said:

I saw one of Richo's 44ft finest turn about halfway down the dyke two weeks ago. The method seemed to involve reversing till the fenders made the boat bounce of the quayheading and forward until the bow rode up the profiled bank and dropped back down again. 20 attempts later they made it round and promptly departed. 

Theyd bettr not try that when all the boats are in their moorings!

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  • 4 months later...

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