Mersey Basin Campaign Blog

Civil works near Litter Trap

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council has begun work to install hardstanding adjacent to the litter trap using a Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS).  'Geo-block' is being used to surface the hardstanding.  Rather than rain water running straight off tarmac into the river, it percolates through the ground in a natural way.  Geo-block will also allow the area to naturalise and blend into the beautiful surroundings of Witton Country Park.

   

The River Darwen is an extremely 'flashy' river because it rises and falls so quickly following rainfall.  I have heard locals describing it 'filling and emptying like a bath'.  Most of the catchment upstream of Witton Country Park is culverted underneath or runs next to roads and buildings.  Without a natural 'buffer' of land to allow natural drainage, the river can torrent quickly, scouring banks, undermining trees, causing erosion and associated problems as well as bringing debris and litter downstream. 

The speed of flow in the upper catchment is beyond the design capacity for the litter trap and we are in the process of modifying and adjusting the equipment to cope.  Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is leading the way in utilising SUDS. 

When Cotton was King Blackburn was the weaving capital of the world.  Mill towns like Darwen and Blackburn grew because they could harness the power of the river.  Quite fitting that modern day protection of the river is a priority.

For more information about the industrial heritage of the River Darwen see the Cotton Town Website [click here for link].

Litter Trap adjustments II

At a meeting with OPEC, APEM and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council last week, we discussed how the litter trap should be modified to make it more effective in high flows.  There will always be times when the boom cannot perform effectively when the river is in high flow but we intend that it will be working for as much of the time as possible to minimise the impact of litter downstream.

 

 

image shows the boom being overtopped by rising water on 7th January 2008

Other alterations are also being explored to ease access for emptying and increase safety.  These include bracing the basket to strengthen it, adding eyelets to the basket so that it can be stabilised during lifting and strengthening the lifting bars.

On 21^st January 2008 the River Darwen was at its highest ever recorded (since 1976)!  The boom survived, which shows that it is capable of the force of water in the river.  We were lucky that nothing big was caught in the flood as this extra pressure could have broken it! 

The boom modifications to the sliding device made on 29th October 2007 have not enabled the boom to move up and down with the river level.  OPEC is looking into the possibility of using a different (roller based) runner to ease boom movement, which could widen the operating conditions for the trap.  We are also considering adapting the runner to bend over in an arc, aiding release at the top of the runner.

Trucks Tumble from Beached Ferry

The Blackpool Gazette reports that trucks have slipped from the stricken ferry Riverdance sending more of the vessel's cargo into the sea.

Several containers have fallen off the port side of the 6,000 ton ship as it continues to dangerously list on Blackpool beach.

The grounded ship, has been leaning at up to an 80 degree angle since the weekend, and moved at high tide sending five or six trailers crashing into the water.  Timber, insulating fibreglass and scrap metal is now washing up on the shoreline, just south of Cleveleys.

The trucks fell as cranes arrived on site. Salvage crews are now trying to refloat the ferry.

For more reports and a gallery of photographs go to the Blackpool Gazette's website - please see below ;-

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/Trucks-slip-off-stricken-ferry.3747144.jp

Riverdance ferry beached near Blackpool

Photo taken at Blackpool on Sunday 2nd February 2008 2:30pm (look carefully to the right end of the ship and you'll see 2 men in fluorescent jackets stood next to the ship - gives an idea of scale!).

We had a family day outing to Blackpool today to see the latest coastal attraction there - a beached ferry.  Lots of other people were also doing the same thing! 

It's amazing to see such a huge ship from only a few hundred metres away.  Walking up to our viewpoint, we could see the decks from over the road - quite spectacular to see in Blackpool!  Apparently they have tried (in vain) to re-float the ship and it has moved along the coast since it was beached last week. 

Follow this link to the story on Lancashire Evening Post website.