Tackling drainage in Watery Lane

Watery Lane will be closed overnight from tomorrow night (20 March) for up to two nights. The closure will be between 8PM and 5AM, and the closure will be from Chaucer Business Park to the junction of Saxbys Road. This is for KCC to undertake drainage works to address the long-standing problems on the road. 

While there are a number of factors affecting Watery Lane, in particular the interaction between the Network Rail drainage system under the bridge and the Kent Highways drainage system, the works to be undertaken over the next couple of days will focus on the latter. There will be a thorough cleanse of all the gullies, catchpits and manholes and jet all the pipework in the Kent Highways system in that section of the road.

Once these works have been completed, and it is confirmed that they have been effective (our drainage engineer will review the works on completion) the Highways Operations team will be able to carry out the necessary repairs to the road surface; they have been unable to do so as long as the water is running.

Hopefully these works will provide some relief from the problems that have affected this section of road. I will post again when there are further updates on how the works have gone and when the road surface repairs can take place.

Swanley Village Road: cleansing the culvert

I wrote in the recent Swanley Village newsletter than the long-awaited works on the culvert in Swanley Village Road were due to take place on Wednesday (6 November).

When it appeared that this had not been completed, I followed up with KCC officers. It appears that the screen was cleared, and the gullies cleansed and jetted. However, the contractors did not jet the culvert itself, apparently because they did not have what they believed to be the correct vehicle to carry out the work safely. KCC required that they return with the appropriate vehicle, and it appears that there was a revisit yesterday and the works were completed.

Tackling drainage on the A225

Kent Highways drainage officers have been working to address the flooding issues on the A225 between Shoreham and Eynsford. Some of these issues, notably at the railway bridge near Preston Farm, have been persistent problems over a long time, while others such as those closer to the entrance to Eynsford have become more severe recently.

Works (cleansing, emptying chambers) were carried out by the Eynsford Station railway bridge around a fortnight ago, though there is still some root cutting that is due to take place shortly. A little to the south, a second drainage system, which drains to a soakaway in low lying land near the road, has been worked on but further cleansing is due to take place. The drainage engineer has also been in contact with the Environment Agency, since their have a pumping station appears also to be an important part of the system, pumping ground water into the river. Finally, there will be further works up the hill from these sites, where water drains into a filter pipe system in the verge.

There will be a further cleansing of the system all the way down from the area around the Preston Farm railway bridge. Taken together with what has already been done, this should make a real difference but I will urgently relay any new problems that arise to the drainage team.

Drainage works on the A225

Drainage work is set to be carried out on the A225 between Shoreham and Eynsford tonight. Recent bouts of heavy rainfall have led to flooding and dangerous amounts of water in several places on the carriageway, in particular by the railway bridge near Preston Farm. 

Contractors did undertake works pre Christmas (21 December) but these did not deliver the desired result, and so Kent Highways drainage officers have required more works. At least two of the key sites are being worked on tonight, and I will update when I have further information.

Swanley Village: cleansing the culvert

The culvert in Swanley Village Road, between the junctions with Button Street and Park Lane, been a local problem, with a tendency to be blocked and floodthe surrounding area. It was cleansed in spring 2019, but residents brought to my attention some months ago that it was once more getting blocked. (I had discussed with Kent Highways the best approach to keeping the culvert clean, and it was agreed to do so as and when problems arose).

Tomorrow there will be a road closure while the culvert is cleansed. A civils team will dig out the entrance to the gulley and then the gullies in the area will be cleansed and jetted. The last such operation did give quite a lasting improvement, and hopefully this will do so too.

Eynsford Road drainage works set for 3 July

Long-running efforts to tackle the flooding problems in Eynsford Road, Farningham have now identified parts of the drainage network in the private road off South Hall Close that are believed to be central to the flooding problems and confirmed that tthey are heavily silted.

Access to this part of the drainage network is difficult and will require the use of specialist equipment via a chamber on the western side of the green in Oliver Crescent. This will require parking restrictions in Oliver Crescent, with residents able to use the green (subject to there not having been heavy rain beforehand) for parking for that day. There has been a letter drop to residents and signs put up, and Kent Highways officers will be there on the day to oversee entry to and exit from the green. The success of the project rests on these parking arrangements working effectively.

Once this cleansing has been done, there will also be cleansing and emptying of the soakaways in Eynsford Road itself. It is to be hoped that these works will make the lasting difference to the effectiveness of drainage in Eynsford Road that is much needed, but which previous efforts have been unable to deliver.

Drainage works in Farningham

Kent Highways is carrying out drainage works in Farningham High Street between Sparepenny Lane and the river east of Dartford Road. The particular focus of the works is to tackle problems affecting Lion Cottages, where surface water run-off from the road comes over the footway and into houses.  There will be a range of work done on pipes, catch pits and cleansing. The required road closure began on 3 June; the aim has been to get the works completed in advance of businesses reopening. The closure will be in two phases (river bridge to Dartford Road; then Dartford Road to Sparepenny Lane) to create the shortest possible diversion route at any given time.

These works are quite separate from ongoing investigations into the very long-standing flooding problems in Eynsford Road. Since my previous post in mid-April, a crew visited and successfully identified a hidden chamber and the full course of the pipe in the private road near South Hall Close; several previous attempts to identify this had been unsuccessful. This pipework is heavily silted and cleansing is being arranged of this and the whole related network. Accessing the system is quite complex (and may need to be done in Oliver Crescent) but a job should be raised for this shortly.

At the other end of the parish, works were as I reported due to be carried out at the intersection of Button Street with the A20 in early May. The drainage system there was cleansed and no defects found. However, the soakaways on either side of the M25 bridge need emptying and there is more work to be done with specialist equipment on one drain on the junction with the A20. Officers are awaiting a full CCTV report before ordering the follow up works.

Drainage works in Button Street tomorrow

Tomorrow (4 May) will see Kent Highways carry out drainage works in Button. Street, affecting both the Farningham and Swanley Village sections of the road. The road will be closed for up to two days.

There have been significant flooding problems at the junction with the A20, and CCTV and root cutting works will be carried out there. In addition, around 18 nearby gullies (in the area running from the junction with Farningham Hill Road to Wadard Terrace) will be cleansed and jetted.

There will also be extensive cleansing and jetting of around 10 gullies and 9 chambers in the area near Canada Heights and the M25 bridge, which has already seen significant attention, including examination of the Kent Highways network and work with Connect Plus to clear debris around the bridge to improve the operation of the Highways England ditches. Flooding problems in this part of the road have, however proved intractable.

A condition report will be provided to Kent Highways after the works.

Eynsford Road flooding: still more to do

The small section of Eynsford Road set back from the main A225 and near the junction with Farningham High Street has been subject to flooding problems for many years. I have been trying to get the matter resolved and have written about it here before. Kent County Council drainage engineers have been working on the site on a number of occasions over the last two years and I have been present at a number of site meetings.

Measures taken so far include cleaning the gullies and building up the kerb to deflect water as it comes down the hill on the main road. These have yielded some relief but have proved ineffectual when - as has been the case so often - there has been heavy rainfall.  Officers have identified the system in and around South Hall Close as a likely source of the continuing problem, and have sought to investigate it. However, it has proved hard to investigate a drainage system  running through private land and which has been altered in the past without these alterations having been documented. 

Between January and early March, KCC spent a total of seven days excavating the unregistered lane to locate the pipe. However, it could not be found, leading the Drainage Engineer to believe that at some point a section of it may have been removed. A new job has been raised to return to site and excavate in South Hall Close, where the pipe is undoubtedly still in existence and to work back from there. Once engineers can see what has happened to the pipe, whether it has been removed or redirected, they can then plan how to reconnect it with the existing system. This work should be carried out within the next 28 days - subject, of course, to the possible impact on contractors of staff sickness or absence in self-isolation because of Covid-19.

Residents in Eysnford Road have had to endure many years of flood problems, and recent severe weather has made the problem more acute. Hopefully, the changes to the paperwork can be identified and a solution found.

Eynsford Road floods again

Amid today's heavy downpours, I was called by residents in Eysnford Road, Farningham, about flooding in the road that was affecting their properties.

I have written about this problem before, and have been taking it up with Kent Highays officers since last summer. Cleansing and other works have been carried out, and it did seem as though some real progress had been made. But today the problems recurred.

In fact, the earlier works may have had some effect. The picture at the top of this post was taken at the time when the flooding was at its strongest; the picture at the bottom was taken a couple of hours later, at the time when I was able to get there and meet residents. The water had run away more rapidly than would have been the case in the past; not, however, before the waters had reached unacceptably high levels. Clearly more substantial works are required, and I will once more take the issue up with Kent Highways.

Eynsford Road: getting under way

In my earlier report on action to tackle flooding at Eynsford Road, I expressed the hope that work could be carried out to  replace the manhole cover in South Hall Road before Christmas. In practice this was delayed because Kent Highways' contractors had to focus their work pre-Christmas on gritting as temperatures fell.

In the last few days, however, I have been told that the works in South Hall Close have been carried out - as a result, the CCTV survey should be carried out in the near future.

Drainage works in Eynsford Road

Residents in Eynsford Road, Farningham, experienced serious flooding in the autumn, and I have since been in frequent contact with Kent Highways officers who have been looking into the problem.

The latest update from the officers is that they are focusing on the main line that runs down the grass verge and then into South Hall Close. Officers will arrange for this to be cleansed and surveyed by a CCTV crew, improving the efficiency of the system as well as identifying any defects within it. There is a manhole cover in South Hall Close which is currently jammed shut and will need to be broken out and replaced before the CCTV crew can access the chamber. There have been  some delays because South Hall Close is a private road, but the works are now set to go ahead, hopefully before Christmas (though the demands of winter gritting might get in the way). Once the manhole is released, the CCTV survey and mainline cleansing can be carried out in the New Year.

Hopefully this will offer resolution of the issue for Eynsford Road residents.

Drainage works for Eynsford 'lake'

Anyone in or passing through the centre of Eynsford recently will have seen the works (pictured) taking place near Gibson's Place. These are being carried out by Kent Highways and are designed to address the long-standing flooding there, about which I have posted before. The flooding problems have generated a mini (or not so mini-) lake whenever there is significant rainfall, creating significant problems for residents, the butcher's opposite, parents taking children to the school and others.

The current works in the carriageway should be complete by the end of the week, with the next phase starting next Monday (20 February). A new pipe, running from the current area of flooding, will be installed along with a large catch pit. The final section of piping (some 6 metres) that connects the drainage system under Gibson's Place to the river will be upgraded, with a flap over the end of the pipe run to prevent water running back up the drainage system when the river levels are high.

Barring weather or other setbacks, the works should be completed by the following weekend (around 25 February). Then we will wait to see if - as will hopefully be the case - this long-standing problem has been tackled.

Action on A225 flooding

As I reported in an earlier post, Kent Highways officers have been working for some time to resolve the severe flooding by the railway bridge on the A225 between Shoreham and Eynsford, close to Preston Hill. Following various surveys, in late January and early February a number of drainage systems near the road (gullies, a catch pit and a soakaway) were identified, dug out and cleansed.

Since these works were carried out, there has been only one significant flooding incident, suggesting that this had at least some effect. However, further improvements are now being undertaken (hence the traffic lights that you may have seen on the road in the last few days). A new soakaway is being installed and the ditch immediately behind it is being cleared of debris. Further works may be investigated in the longer term, but this should in any case deliver improvements and greater safety on the road.

Flooding on the A225

Many residents have told me of their concerns about flooding on the A225 at the railway bridge between Shoreham and Eynsford (near Preston Hill and Preston Farm). Heavy flooding on a major road by a sharp bend is a clear hazard.

Kent Highways officers have been trying to identify and deal with the problem for some time. Most recently, a CCTV survey on the land near the bridge took place on 4 January; this identified some buried gullies and a buried chamber, but it was not possible to carry out all the work needed on the day. A further survey was undertaken on 22 January. This identified two buried catch pits and a buried soakaway. All of these buried drainage systems have now been opened up.

The system will be cleansed on 4 February, and tests undertaken to determine how effective this is in getting the drainage system to work. If the cleansing is not sufficient, more drastic works will be undertaken. As usual, I will update in a further post when I know more.

Gateway signs go into Swanley Village

As promised earlier in the year, some key projects in Swanley Village are being paid for from my Member Fund. I told a meeting of the Swanley Village Residents Association a few weeks ago that village gateway signs should be installed before Christmas; this has happened today. Some other promised works, such as installation of high friction surfacing, should take place during the February half term. Action to remove and replace the village sign should also take place shortly.

Also in Swanley Village (though not paid for from my Fund), I understand that the gullies in Button Street from just south of the motorway bridge to the junction with Wood Street should be cleansed before the end of tomorrow.

Pinks Hill: update with the Highways Agency

Accompanied by Kent Highways officers, I met recently with representatives of Connect Plus and the Highways Agency. 

We reviewed the follow up to our site meeting in June. HA/ Connect Plus contractors carried out a range of short-term works (clearing vegetation, in particular around the ditch, cleansing bore holes) earlier in the year and this will be repeated at the time of the usual cycle of maintenance on the lagoon next spring. CCTV work has been carried out to understand flows to and from the lagoon, though more remains to be done to build up the complete picture that is needed to establish the works that will be needed to enhance the lagoon's capacity. These works are likely to involve increasing the overall size of the lagoon and/or adding another deep borehole, but this will be confirmed once the further CCTV works are carried out.

The Highways Agency will shortly be issuing its new severe weather plan, on which Pinks Hill will be identified as a vulnerable location. This should aid the prospect of securing funding for the lagoon works, building on previous plans that were drawn up before last winter's floods. It will also ensure a more timely response in secondary resources attending Pinks Hill.

In the more immediate term, Kent Highways and HA/Connect Plus are agreeing a protocol to deal with crises over the coming winter. It is helpful that both sides use Hydrocleanse for a range of services, such as supplying tankers and carrying out CCTV surveys. It was therefore agreed that residents should be advised to use Kent Highways as their first point of contact; Kent Highways will then dispatch Hydrocleanse tankers and funding will be sorted out between Kent Highways and HA/ Connect Plus afterwards. The soakaway by London Road has enormous capacity and can be used to discharge from tankers.

A process map, setting out the roles and responsibilities of all parties, has been drawn up and agreed.

There is also a need to protect specific properties. Kent Highways is raising an order for bunding work to protect the properties opposite the ditch. Residents will be asked nonetheless to contact Kent Highways if the ditch is threatening to overflow, since there will then be a need to bring tankers into the area before the Kent Highways drainage is overloaded and other parts of the estate are threatened. Kent Highways will also act to deal with other vulnerable individual properties. 

Watts Farm visit: tackling flooding in Button Street

There have been a number of causes of the flooding that has often affected Button Street in recent years, but any solution has to include avoiding run-off from Watts Farm. The farm runs alongside Button Street from close to the A20 junction up as far as Canada Heights.

The farm manager has made major efforts to tackle the problem, and on Friday morning a KCC highways engineer and I visited to see what has been done. A large lagoon has been dug at a low-lying point quite close to the road to receive a lot of the runoff from the fields. A large bund stands between it and the road.

We also visited a large ditch (pictured) that runs alongside another field. The ditch has had its problems in the past - on one occasion, a rabbit hole that was dug near it contributed to discharges into the road - but appears to be functioning well (the overnight thunder storms and heavy rain provided a useful test of its effectiveness: water had run into the ditch but there was still plenty of capacity left).

All round, this was a very encouraging visit and the farm manager is looking at plans for further drainage close to the farm' shard surfacing, which inevitably experiences heavy runoff during periods of rainfall. This would enable the lagoon to operate as a last line of defence and to serve chiefly to receive runoff from the fields.

There are, of course, other sources of flooding in Button Street, and I will continue to work with Kent Highways to resolve them.

Shoreham: more on the closure

The closure of Station Road Shoreham (see my previous post) is set to begin tomorrow.

The 421 bus service will continue to serve Shoreham, operating on a ‘double run’ basis; it will go to Otford, come back along Filston Lane and pick up at the current stop before turning round and going back up Filston Lane. This will mean that, for the period of the closure, there may be one less service per day. It will of course revert to the current timetable once the closure is finished.

A further cause for concern has been the coincidence of these works with the severe water discharges around the Filston Lane/ Church Street/ High Street junction, and in particular the question of whether tackling these problems would require an additional road closure, causing major problems for the village. 

Thames Water fixed one leak (in Church Street) some time ago, but the second leak - which originated in Filston Lane, opposite the car park, but then ran down Church Street - took longer. 

Works were however carried out just over a week ago (on Saturday 6^th September) and Thames Water will return tomorrow to complete a permanent reinstatement of the carriageway. While this is the same day as the start of the closure in Station Road, the reinstatement should be carried out using signage only.

New date for Rock Hill works

In my previous post on further drainage works to be undertaken on the Bromley-facing side of Rock Hill, I gave a date of 26 August for them to be undertaken.

Driving through Well Hill shortly afterwards, I noticed that the works had not taken place and made enquiries as to what had happened. It appears that the contractor was overloaded with other commitments and was unable to do those works on the day agreed.

Working with a new contractor, Kent Highways has agreed a new date of 22nd of September. Hopefully this should see a resolution of this long-running issue.