We are asked by BBC Look East to provide some video of the Ipswich Tidal Barrier work.
A fairly windy but sunny February afternoon saw us ‘dock side’ shooting a fascinating view of this Environment Agency project.
“The Environment Agency and partners are investing more than £58M over the next three years in a tidal barrier across the main waterway, accompanied by new and refurbished sheet piling – steel walls driven into the riverbed.
Similar to the Thames Barrier, although quite a bit smaller, the 20 metre wide gate will rise during periods of extreme high tides to hold back the North Sea and, with the help of the sheet piling, keep Ipswich dry.
When finished, the works will reduce the risk of flooding to 1,608 homes and 422 businesses and support key infrastructure such as the fire station and council buildings.
Everything upstream of the barrier will be protected against a tidal surge like the one experienced in 1953 and, more recently, in 2013. That will be hugely reassuring to the home and business owners on the waterfront, many of whom suffered thousands of pounds worth of damage and disruption after the tidal surge in 2013.”
We have a great relationship with the port authority at Ipswich and this enabled us to quickly obtain permissions and perform the flight with plenty of time to get the footage to the BBC.
