Fantastic opportunity to re-connect a major section of the River Cocker to its floodplain. The aim here was to widen sections of damaged flood embankments (x4) to enable the floodwater to flow freely on (maximise storage) and off the floodplain without scour and associated gravel deposition. This was achieved with the enthusiastic support of the landowner. The whole system was fully tested during the flood of 15th November 2015, by far the largest flood since November 2009, and operated effectively as designed despite limited grass cover on the newly exposed ground.
