Taller gate to be airlifted into place at Foss Barrier anti-flood scheme in York as part of £38m upgrade

Work to remove the existing lifting gate and install a taller one starts on Monday and will take around four days to complete.

The Environment Agency says the work will better protect local homes, businesses and infrastructure by stopping flood water from the River Ouse backing up along the River Foss after heavy rainfall.

This latest milestone brings the Environment Agency’s upgrade to the Foss Barrier pumping station one step closer to its scheduled completion date of June. The work was initially planned for spring 2020, but was delayed.

All the mechanical and electrical equipment that operates the gate is being replaced, upgraded and fully integrated with the rest of the Foss Barrier pumping station. The floodwall between Skeldergate Bridge and the Novotel is also being raised.

As part of the upgrade, all eight pumps have been replaced by bigger ones with greater capacity and new back-up generators mean they can operate during a power failure.

Paula Widdowson of City of York Council, said: "The commencement of works to replace the Foss Barrier gate are a fantastic development and we are grateful for all of the hard work that has taken place to bring the project to this point.

"The improvements to the gate will combine with the works carried out previously to the pumps and control building and will provide improved levels of flood resilience to a significant area of the city."

Meanwhile, it was revealed yesterday that a new car park built in West Yorkshire by Northern as part of the rail operator’s programme of modernisation will double as a defence to help prevent local flooding.

The West Yorkshire village of Mytholmroyd has been hard-hit by flooding in the past five years and Northern’s new facility at the town’s station will help protect the area.

The £3.9 million major engineering project, funded by West Yorkshire Combined Authority, includes a system which will capture storm water running down the nearby Calder Valley in a huge tank which can hold approximately 431,000 litres of water.

The water is then released from the storage tank at a controlled rate which means surface water run-off will be slowed down before flowing into the River Calder to help to reduce the risk of flooding.

As well as bolstering the village’s flood defences, the new car park will provide 181 spaces for Northern customers, including nine accessible bays and nine wide access bays.