Sheffield scheme set to tame storm waters

A Sheffield-based engineering project is set to protect the city from future flooding.

Design and build specialist JBA Bentley has been awarded a £19 million contract to deliver civil flood alleviation works at Sheffield Forgemasters’ Brightside Lane site. 

The project will intercept the Lower Don Valley’s Bagley Brook culvert as it enters the Forgemasters site, diverting storm water into storage and transferring it safely into the River Don.

Bosses say the scheme features a large underground catchment system including storage tanks, a cross-site transfer tunnel and a pumping station, capable of rerouting large volumes of water during critical periods. 

Water will be released back into the river at a controlled rate of 8000 litres per second via a new outfall structure, supported by a repositioned section of flood wall along Sheffield Forgemasters’ boundary.

Graham Frudd, contracts manager at JBA Bentley, said: “We are delighted to be working with Sheffield Forgemasters on what is a major flood alleviation project in the Lower Don Valley.

“JBA Bentley will undertake construction of a new weir chamber, integrated into the side of the existing Bagley Brook culvert, to allow a proportion of storm water to be redirected from the Bagley Brook culvert to a new pumping station at the side of the River Don.

“This will involve sinking a five-metre shaft to receive a tunnel boring machine which will drive a tunnel, twelve metres deep, for 320 metres across Brightside Lane. 

“This will be launched from the 15-metre diameter shaft which will double as storage and a pumping station.”

The two-year works form part of planning requirements for the company’s new 13,000-tonne Forging Line, currently under construction next to the Midland Mainline railway. 

The flood alleviation project is designed to manage extreme weather events, safeguard the forging facility and support ongoing operations while ensuring the site remains resilient to future rainfall challenges.

Craig Fisher, programmes director at Sheffield Forgemasters, added: “We have already made huge steps towards flood prevention on the site, but the Bagley Brook transfer system will address a known flood-risk which can affect both our plant and this part of the city.

“The brook, which runs through an enclosed culvert along our northern boundary and into the River Don, was contained in the Victorian era and the culvert simply can’t cope with an excessive flow of water, causing it to breach in heavy storm conditions.

“The new transfer system will allow storm water to be diverted from the culvert and contained in large attenuation tanks, before being transferred to the River Don via a new underground pumping station, near to Abyssinia Bridge.”

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