Gilberdyke's Community Funded Drainage Culvert Worked During Heavy Rainfall

Although Gilberdyke didn’t get anywhere near as much rainfall as Goole yesterday it was great to see the new community funded culvert taking all the water. I’m reliably informed that some 25mm of rain fell in the village and although some water levels did rise on some of the roads and at least one garden saw some localised flooding, I’m not aware of any flooding in people’s houses.

The water entered the culvert at the western end without obstruction and flowed out into the large dyke known as Far Drain at the eastern end. The head of the water forced its way out of the culvert and into the dyke even though the level in Far Drain was above the level of the culvert during the peak flow.

Needless to say the culvert did exactly what it was supposed to do, we would not have seen the water move so quickly through this section prior to the work taking place, as the narrowness of the former dyke and capacity of the previously potted sections with their ‘protective grills’ would have created the pinch points and impeded the flow, as highlighted in the survey conducted by Mason Clark after the 2007 floods. The report from this survey subsequently led to the culvert being installed.

All in all it was rewarding to see the system work, and I look forward to the remainder of the work being completed in the near future enabling the culvert to be extended to drain surface water from those at risk properties in Westbrook Road. This of course puts less pressure on the existing surface water and foul water systems in the village meaning that the flood risk to the whole village is reduced.

Many thanks to Gilberdyke Parish Council and the Flood Action Group, the Lower Ouse Internal Drainage Board, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council Drainage Engineers, and the community for their support, a great result of what can be achieved by working together.