Blocked Drains – Coming to a Road in Wincanton Near You! UPDATED
When you see a blocked drain at the side of the road you notify the relevant authority, and they send someone to clear it. But just how long does it take for this to happen? The answer seems to be about eleven months.
The January storms brought terrible flooding to the Somerset Levels, and in Wincanton there were fallen trees, branches, and damaged overhead cables. Walking around parts of Wincanton in January and February meant ankle deep water from flooded ditches. New rivers were created, crossing farmland, and pouring out on to local roads.
Thankfully the floods receded, and the land dried out, followed by an amazing summer. Job done! Or was it?
Walking around Wincanton in June and July revealed other less conspicuous damage. The main clue was a large puddle at the junction of North Street and Shadwell Lane. Puddles over drains in bad weather are common place, but this was mid-summer, hot and dry. This puddle was not for drying out.
It was being fuelled by surface water coming down from the West Hill area. This isn’t unusual, as West Hill is known to have multiple springs. What is of interest is that this puddle had been there since January 2014. Surely there was something wrong with this picture.
The Highways Authority was notified, complete with images. Tony Leech, the area manager, confirmed that he had seen this drain, and had even tried to rod it clear, without success. He said that the problem was probably either a heavy blockage or a collapsed pipe. Either way it probably needed to be dug up to find the blockage or have collapsed pipes replaced.
The Highways Authority was also notified about a blocked rain in Common Road. This drain was totally blocked by solids. At a recent Town Council meeting Councillor Phil Rodgers also told Council about a blocked drain in Church Street. An inspection of Church Street, Market Place and High Street to the traffic lights revealed four more drains totally blocked with solids.
These blockages are surely a direct result of the January storms. A mail from Highways confirmed that the drains at Shadwell Lane/North Street and Common Road/Balsam Fields were to be cleared by December 2014, almost 11 months from when the blockages happened.
The Highways website gives the following information.
Report a blocked drain on the road
As the Highway Authority we operate a planned maintenance programme for cleaning highway surface water drains on all highways maintained by us.
The frequency of planned gully cleansing will depend on location (classification of road) and the relative risk of flooding.
- Gullies in flood susceptible areas will be cleaned every year.
- Gullies in rural non-flood susceptible areas (outside a 30 or 40 mph speed limit) will be cleaned every two years.
- Gullies in urban non-flood susceptible areas (within a 30 or 40mph speed limit) will be cleaned every four years.
The planned programme is reviewed and adjusted annually to ensure the programme recognises and responds to the changing nature of risk and flooding on the county highway network.
Where defects or flooding are identified, in between the planned gully cleansing, these will be dealt with on an ad-hoc or reactive basis.
This is a clear commitment to regular maintenance, but unexpected blockages seem to get missed in the system. Maybe the system needs to be reviewed to cope with the unexpected.
Tony Leech confirmed today that drains in Station Road, Church Street, Market Place, High Street, Common Road, and North Street would all be cleared by December, just in time for the next winter weather when it arrives.
If you know of any other blocked drains in Wincanton contact Highways, giving as much information about the location as you can. If possible send in images too. Maybe the waiting list for blocked drains will also get cleared.
[UPDATE 27/10/14]: Following on from the article about “Blocked Drains”, work has now started. People using North Street will have noticed the excavations at the junction of North Street and Shadwell Lane. The repair has been completed and the hole re-filled. All that is needed is to replace the tarmac. Let’s hope that all the other blocked drains will now be cleared by the 1st December as advised by John Nicholson of Somerset County.
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Reply #1 on : Thu October 09, 2014, 14:27:43
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