Video: Tonnes of aggregate and clay used to repair canal bank near East Cowick

Work is nearing completion on a repair to an embankment on the Aire & Calder Navigation, which breached on Sunday, 20 December and resulted in several nearby fields flooding.

Contractors working on behalf of the Canal & River Trust – which manages the affected part of the Aire & Calder Navigation – have plugged the breach with 350 tonnes of aggregate and 170 tonnes of clay, which has stemmed the flow of water from the canal.

The trust will continue to monitor the fix over the coming days. 

Engineers from the Canal & River Trust have also undertaken an on-site inspection of the nearby embankments and are satisfied that these are stable.

????IncidentUpdate ????@CanalRiverTrust are repairing the breach to the #AireAndCalderNavigation using a helicopter.@EnvAgencyYNE, @ERfloodrisk, @HumbersideFire & @IDBYorkshire all working closely to support @CRTYorkshireNE.

(Excuse the noise from the ????) pic.twitter.com/Wq3C41G08q

— Adam Bayliss (@AdamBaylissEA) December 23, 2020

With the breach repaired and the Environment Agency standing down its flood warnings for the area, the Humber Local Resilience Forum has stood down the emergency response.

However, operational teams will remain on site to continue a coordinated pumping effort to reduce flood waters in the fields near to the canal.

Water levels at Goole Docks and Goole Marina have also stabilised.

A helicopter is now on site to help repair the breach and stabilise the bank on the Aire & Calder navigation, as part of a multi agency operation with @CanalRiverTrust, @East_Riding and @HumbersideFire pic.twitter.com/9jFVoGXbmU

— Environment Agency – Yorkshire & North East (@EnvAgencyYNE) December 22, 2020

Darren Downs, Chief Superintendent at Humberside Police, said:

“Thanks to the collective efforts of the Canal & River Trust, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Humberside Police, Humberside Fire & Rescue, the Environment Agency, Snaith & Cowick Town Council and the Internal Drainage Board, no properties have flooded during this incident and the breach has now been repaired.

The risk of flooding to local communities has therefore subsided.

“While our emergency response to this incident has now been stood down, partners will continue to have a presence on site over the coming days in order to monitor the situation and continue pumping operations.

We would like to thank residents and the local community for their support over the past few days.

We fully appreciate the impact incidents like these have on people and we are pleased that, by working together, we have managed to bring the situation to a positive conclusion.”