Action taken to resolve Albrighton flooding issues
Regular flooding could become a thing of the past for a suffering village now a council is taking action following numerous complaints.
Shropshire Council has responded to complaints over continuous flooding on the Newport Road rail underpass in Albrighton and said they are developing a scheme for alleviating the issue.
The council's flood and water management and highways teams say they have found the cause of the issue is a result of the poor condition of downstream pipework as part of the highways gully system.
Investigations found that roots from the trees that line the rail embankment had caused blockages.
A spokesman for Shropshire Council, said: "When tree roots enter pipework they cause an obstruction which can trap silt and other debris resulting in a reduction in capacity. If not managed they can completely block a pipe, resulting in flooding.
"A root cutting operation was previously undertaken by Shropshire Council which alleviated the issue temporarily, and a scheme of works was drawn up to address this issue.
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"However, it was not possible to deliver this scheme at the time. It is likely that the roots have now regrown and the system is no longer able to function."
Shropshire Council is intending to clean out the downstream pipework and install a liner to ensure that, once cleared, tree roots will no longer be able to enter the pipes and cause flooding.
The spokesman said there were several reasons why approval of access for this plan had been "problematic".
He said: "The drainage system serving Newport Road runs through several chambers in land owned by Network Rail. Due to the level of the highway, and the raised ground levels of the rail embankment, these chambers are very deep to ensure a fall on the pipework.
"Due to the age of the system (which would have been installed when the rail line was constructed) the chambers are very small, resulting in a difficult confined working space.
"All of the chambers are located behind the security fencing associated with the rail line requiring Network Rail permission to work on their land on a live rail line. Access to this location is complicated further as it is via the Cosford site which is managed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD)."
Discussions between Shropshire Council and Network Rail have begun and discussions with the MOD will follow after to ensure the delivery of the works as soon as possible.
Whilst small amount of rainfall may be drained, the council said it is likely that the road will continue to flood after heavy rainfall until the work is undertaken.
Earlier this week, the council's contractors were on site to pump out the flood water so the road has been temporarily re-opened.
