The Curry Moor Flood Storage Area (FSA) is located in Somerset between East Lying, Athelney, North Curry and Charlton. Forming part of the low-lying Somerset Levels, it is contained by the raised riverbanks of the River Tone.
FSAs (reservoirs) are an integral part of the system that helps reduce the risk of flooding to homes, as well as farms and other businesses. The Environment Agency is responsible for the safety of the reservoirs and carries out regular inspections. Following the last inspection at Curry Moor, a number of improvements were recommended and Kier Group was announced as the Tier 1 Contractor to carry them out.
Kelston Sparkes tendered and successfully won the contract for the earthworks on the project, which started in June 2024 and culminated in late September 2024.
The overall improvements include restoring the integrity of embankments under threat of internal erosion, modifying inlet spillways to minimise risk of debris blockage, replacing trash screens on siphons, reinforcement of the downstream face of the Banklands embankment and bund improvements. Appointing an earthworks contractor with proven ability to work in sensitive environments was fundamental to the project and Kelston Sparkes was able to demonstrate a growing portfolio of work in sites of special scientific interest, as well as many flood defence projects. With modern equipment and experienced machine operators able to successfully negotiate the most difficult of terrains, the project was a perfect fit. A further benefit of working with Kelston Sparkes was the company’s ability to source and import the required 20,000m³ of imported soils to commence construction on the flood defence project.
Somerset Levels is an internationally important and historic wetland that contains pre-historic sites and heritage assets, as well as buried items yet to be unearthed. It is also home to badgers, but to maintain the integrity of embankments, one of the projects during the construction of a new earth mound and causeway was to create an artificial badgers’ sett with badger mesh. The important move will ensure the stability of earth mounds from a proliferation of setts whilst providing a natural habitat for the badgers. Other sections of the project include extending concrete erosion protection, creating a concrete revetment to replace a section of earth embankment, creating new embankments and upgrading existing embankments, as well as new feed culverts, French drains and general landscaping projects.
David Swann, Contracts Director at Kelston Sparkes, was delighted to win the project;
“We are really pleased to be working on another Environment Agency project which is helping to protect the Somerset Levels, as well as the natural habitat therein. The work is not only to protect the site’s ecology; it is also to future-proof homes and businesses in the area from any risk of flooding. It is imperative that we take mitigating actions while we work to ensure earthworks and material imports do not pollute any water sources. Working to a very tight environmental specification for the imported soils, we were able to identify and through extensive testing demonstrate the suitability of material for import.
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