Flooding at Thoresby Dale in Hucknall

Flood waters at Thoresby Dale in Hucknall have been causing issues for residents locally. Nottinghamshire County Council and Via are working as a priority to both lower the water levels in the system and establish the cause of the flooding. Flooding has been experienced across the county with the exceptional circumstances from the two recent storms. In the case of Thoresby Dale, the Baker Lane Brook is still seeing high water levels upstream and the volume of water being retained on land at Dob Park adjacent to the A611 is the highest that has been observed.

What has been done to resolve the issue?

The weir height into the overflow pipe from the culvert under Torkard Way has temporarily been raised, this will maintain the Baker Lane Brook levels during normal conditions along its usual route and reduce the amount of brook water overflowing during periods of severe weather.
All water levels in the system are low and the outfall pipes to the open watercourse adjacent to the NET car park have been checked and cleared of silt and small pieces of debris. The pumps, which have not been in operation this week, have been removed from site. Regular inspections of the downstream manholes will be undertaken by local highway inspectors. Further permanent measures to supplement the system are still being investigated.

Dob Park 24 February 2020

Dob Park flooded

Dob Park 27 February 2020

Dob Park flood water receding

What is causing the flooding?

Weather conditions throughout this Autumn and Winter have been exceptional, causing issues county-wide. However, the problems encountered show that there are capacity issues with the volume of water being observed upstream of the culvert that runs under Torkard Way. This will be checked once water levels are low enough for it to be done safely and effectively to ascertain if there are any blockages or defects in the system that are contributing to the problem.

Possible engineering measures in response to the conditions

As part of additional engineering measures, further modelling will be undertaken to see what adjustments can be made in response to the exceptional conditions. These include:

installation of a Non-Return Valve on the highway drainage system. This will prevent any brook water coming back up the system as recently encountered
increasing the weir height within the culvert under Torkard Way. This will reduce the volume of the brook overtopping into the overflow pipe that runs down Torkard Way and keep water levels higher in the Baker Lane Brook
installation of a penstock system at Dob Park. This will enable the flow to be restricted into Baker Lane Brook upstream and should see lower levels and volume when it reaches the Thoresby Dale area
consider if any monitoring system can be installed at key locations to provide advance warning of rising water levels within the closed system so actions can be put in place before flooding occurs.

Further work is needed before implementing these measures to make sure they do not impact on the wider network and to ensure they will provide an adequate solution. Timescales will follow as soon as possible.

Residents are urged not to attempt to lift manhole covers or enter culverts.