Engineering firm takes action to curb River Don flood risk on river

The River Don runs through the Sheffield Forgemasters works in Brightside Lane, Attercliffe, Sheffield, and the site saw some of the worst of the flooding which hit the city after severe rainfall in the summer of 2007.

Since then work has been ongoing with the Environment Agency to widen the river channel, which had become badly silted, and remove trees and other debris from the bank to allow water to flow more freely.

Forgemasters’ spokesman Vicky Hinchcliffe said: “The joint project was a success, removing the debris that was taking up about 100 metres of the channel.

“In the long term, the project between us and the Environment Agency will hopefully help minimise the risk of more floods.”

Forgemasters said it had agreed to commit to the future maintenance of the stretch of river that runs through the site, by replanting more suitable, low lying vegetation to continue to support wildlife.

It will also carry out ongoing maintenance to prevent the debris building up again.