Work completed on £3.5 million flood alleviation scheme

Work has been completed on the two phases of a £3.5 million flood alleviation scheme to protected 251 homes and 23 non-residential properties.

The Glynneath flood alleviation project was developed by Neath Port Talbot Council’s Drainage Team and its partners with support from Welsh Government funding.

The project had phases with the first at Lancaster Close where 600 metres of pipework were laid from a new-build intake structure to the main road, going through fields and discharging into the River Neath.

Additional drainage was installed upstream of the intake structure which improved the access to Gelliceibryn while at the same time ensured any surface water now drains into the new intake.

Overflow system

The new, reinforced concrete intake is at the top of Lancaster Close and accommodates a 600mm diameter pipe, with an additional 900mm diameter overflow system. The intake is designed to contain even a 1 in 100 year storm event, which will prevent the watercourse overflowing and subsequent flooding of residents at Rock Street and Robert Street.

One of the most difficult parts of the scheme involved fitting a 900mm diameter pipe beneath a narrow footway, between Maeshir Retirement Home and No. 1 Park Avenue.

The council and its partners were subsequently praised by National Resources Wales for an innovative approach to the work by using non-intrusive tunnelling instead of a boring machine – this involved a mixture of ground tunnelling by hand and machine work.

Phase Two took place at Glynmelyn Road, where a ford crossing was replaced with a pair of two-metre wide box culverts, effectively creating a bridge.

To accommodate the works, the watercourse had to be dammed and pumped around the working area.

The purpose of this section of the scheme is to prevent storm water overwhelming the watercourse and breaking out of the previous ford crossing.

Cllr Scott Jones, Neath Port Talbot Council’s Cabinet Member for Streetscene, said: “Both I and the drainage team would like to thank residents in the community of Glynneath for their patience
while the scheme went ahead.

“With predictions of warmer and wetter winters, heavier summer downpours and more extreme weather events due to Climate Change, we recognise the importance of building our flood resilience in our communities and taking action as soon as possible.”