Finally, tenfoots are going high-tech. As our meteorological passageways correspondent Angus Young discovers, the future just got about three metres nearer.
To coin a phrase from M&S, this is not just a tenfoot. This is an integral part of a new urban sustainable drainage system. In fact, it’s one of several freshly-tweaked tenfoots in the Derringham district of West Hull now set to play their part in helping to dramatically reduce the risk of flooding in the immediate area.
Back in June 2007 Hull was badly flooded after the city’s sewer network was overwhelmed by prolonged heavy rain. Among the worst-hit areas was Derringham, highlighted by a famous aerial photograph showing flooded homes either side of Wold Road.
Since then, a big flood storage lagoon has been constructed at one end of Wold Road to store surface water before slowly releasing it into the sewer system. Now work on a series of smaller water storage areas known as aquagreens has been completed across the neighbourhood.
Instead of rain running straight down roadside gullies and into the drains, the re-designed tenfoots act as channels to direct water flows to the aquagreens instead. Acting like ponds, the aquagreens naturally soak up large volumes of water helping to ease pressure on the wider drainage system. As well as the tenfoots themselves, properties on either side have had new boundary fencing and gates installed along with improved damp proofing work to exposed brickwork.
Alongside all this clever civil engineering, there’s also some equally impressive technology behind deployed too. At four sites, experts from the University of Hull have installed telemetry and monitoring equipment which provides real-time data on everything from water levels in the aquagreens to run-off flows from the tenfoots. Information on the types of plants and flowers thriving at each site is also being collected to better understand the development of wildlife habitats in densely-populated urban areas.
Costing £8.4m, the project hasn’t been cheap with funding coming from Yorkshire Water as part of its Living With Water partnership with the region’s two local councils, the university and the Environment Agency. Living With Water’s general manager Emma Brown said: “Not only does this type of infrastructure mitigate flood risk, it also works closely with nature and communities to enhance the local area and showcase we can work together for our customers and the environment.”
Now all we need is a bit of rain.
Angus Young