New schedule announced to complete Pedmormead End flood prevention work.

The completion of the Pednormead End flood prevention scheme in Chesham will now be split between this year and next, Buckinghamshire Council has confirmed.

The work to upgrade and replace the culvert (the pipe containing the river) under Church Street is crucial to reducing the flood risk to those living in the area. However the scheme has been hampered by the unforeseen complexity of the location of buried utility services which are situated close to where the culvert runs, delaying completion.

The task has proved incredibly complex for the engineers working on the scheme with five additional buried services being discovered once excavations has started. Before work on the actual culvert can start, the services, which include water, gas, electric, phone, fibre and drainage all need to be disconnected, moved and diverted in the right sequence with sufficient notice given to customers. The sheer complexity of arranging this has taken longer than anticipated.

Most recently, the construction has also been affected by heavy rainfall and rising levels of ground water so additional pumps and filters have been used to keep the site workable. The teams on site have also begun working weekends to ensure that as much as possible can be done, however time has run out to install the new culvert before the current road closure ends.

Commenting on progress, Buckinghamshire Council Cabinet Member for Transport, Nick Naylor said he’d rarely come across such a complicated scheme. “We’ve now taken a pragmatic approach to get all the utilities done first and will return next summer to finish the culvert upgrade works,” he said. “I realise it means closing the road again next year but having sorted the utilities, it should then be plain sailing to finish the culvert works. The Council remains entirely committed to completing the works properly.”

Local Buckinghamshire Councillor, Jane MacBean added: “I can fully understand residents’ frustration at the time taken to carry out these works and the impacts of the road closure. Once the utility works have been completed, the road will reopen using a temporary road surface. When the project team return again in the summer to finish off, they have given assurances that the culvert upgrade work will be completed as quickly as possible.”

“These works have ended up being a marathon rather than a sprint, but the long term benefit will be that Pednormead End will get its flood prevention scheme and that’s the most important thing.”

The Council, Transport for Buckinghamshire and all the contractors involved will continue working with local residents as the scheme continues. For any issues or questions about the ongoing works, please use the dedicated e-mail address: pednormeadend@Buckinghamshire.gov.uk