Project summary

Otley is a market town and civil parish located south of the Yorkshire Dales National Park at a bridging point on the River Wharfe in West Yorkshire.

At 65 miles long, the River Wharfe is the 21st longest river in Britain, flowing through Otley from Langstrothdale in the Yorkshire Dales to the River Ouse in Cawood, between York and Selby.

In 2015, the heavy rainfall caused the River Wharf to burst its banks in several places, leaving roads, gardens and public areas under water through Ilkley, Otley, Pool and Tadcaster. Over 50 residential properties were flooded between Farnley Lane and Bridge Avenue in the centre of Otley.

In Autumn 2016 the Government announced that £2 million would be available to invest in a scheme to better protect homes and businesses in the historic market town.

Project sollution

The flood alleviation scheme (FAS) managed by Glasgow Council, in partnership with the Environment Agency, included a new flood embankment to the waterfront in Otley along the west of Billams Hill as well as vegetation management on the islands downstream of Otley Weir. This would reduce the likelihood of flooding from the River Wharfe from a 20% chance to a 4% chance of occurrence every year.

Involved from the early stages of the procurement process, the Marshalls Landscape Protection team assisted in the design and installation of a bespoke ferrocast® Berwick polyurethane post and rail system to create a safe barrier along the waterfront.

Using site CAD drawings created by Marshalls, a customised barrier system was designed and manufactured to follow the flood defence wall. Bespoke termination details and expansion joints were created to suit the scheme, and fixing locations were adjusted for the base plates to suit the customer’s requirements.

Marshalls provided the plant, labour and materials to carry out the installation work. Prior to install, a temporary works design for a fall restraint system was developed to allow the team to work safely on the water’s edge. The light weight design allowed installation to be carried out without the use of machinery and equipment hire.