Despite heavy rain in the wake of Storm Angus, Hydro-Brake® Optimum flow controls continue to protect Telford homes.

On the 21^st of November the Telford area experienced heavy rainfall, with Shropshire among the areas hit hard by torrential conditions in the wake of Storm Angus.

Taking the opportunity to see one of his sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) in action, Telford & Wrekin Council Local Flood Risk Officer John Bellis visited the Limekiln Lane SuDS site with a camera—and was pleased to see that the flood protection system was operating exactly as it should.

While the system was not “full”, it was holding back and storing a large volume of water that would otherwise have entered the sewer network—and would potentially have caused flooding to homes in Wellington.

The project

We worked with Neil Scott, Principal Engineer at consulting engineers Mouchel, to provide the flow control elements of an effective flood protection system for Telford & Wrekin Council, at the centre of which is a series of three Hydro-Brake® Optimum flow control units.

Designed to manage surface water runoff from the nearby Wrekin and Ercall hills and the M54 motorway, we worked with Neil to make sure that the Hydro-Brake® Optimum flow controls were precision engineered to meet his design requirements—ensuring a combined maximum flow of 1,750 l/s through a headwall, with additional downstream protection during peak events—providing flood protection against 1 in 100 year storm events with a built-in 30% excess to account for climate change.

The SuDS feature is situated on a stream that runs between school playing fields and a housing development, and provides a 6,700 m³ stormwater storage capacity—at a depth of up to 2.2 m—while preserving the safety, amenity and environmental aspects of the site.

Neil’s design replaced the pre-existing system, which comprised an overflow into a dry swale and bypass system—which regularly failed, causing flooding to local fields and houses.

"Working closely with Hydro International enabled us to evaluate several different configurations before arriving at the ‘Optimum’ solution which is performing exactly as intended."

- Neil Scott, Principal Engineer, Mouchel

Image copyright John Bellis. Used with permission.