Shropshire Routes to Roots

In open country, water can disrupt farming and local traffic, but it seldom causes any great damage, as its force is lessened by it being able to spread across the land and dissipate its power. In some respects it can be beneficial, in that it deposits silt containing minerals and nutrients, enriching the soil. This is why land use by rivers tends to be arable, with stock placed in the higher, drier fields.

When the flood invades a town, there is far more disruption. Roads are closed, transport grinds to a halt, cellars and yards are flooded and trading virtually ceases until the waters recede.

A river such as the Severn is so powerful that it causes disruption to human habitation and commerce all along its length. The main root of the problem is the removal of its natural flood plain. As it passes through towns, its normal course is hemmed in by roads, concrete embankments and lines of dwellings or factories. With nowhere to go, it simply rises until it overflows into the streets and buildings.

The solution is to build barriers high enough to prevent the water overspilling. In Shrewsbury, demountable barriers, consisting of metal plates slotted into vertical metal uprights, have been erected along the riverside at Frankwell. In February 2004, they were used for the first time, and proved a great success, preventing the flooding of Frankwell. This measure has provided the residents of the borough with the hope that the annual floods are a thing of the past.

You can see how well the barriers behaved in the Shrewsbury floods gallery.

Further downstream, at Ironbridge, another form of protection was also used for the first time. This is a Swedish system, consisting of metal "A" frames, covered with a plastic sheeting extending forwards about three metres, and retained by clips along the top. Once again, this proved very succesful, and only a small amount of seepage was experienced, with all properties along the frontage reporting dry premises for the first time in many years.