The barrier is part of the flood defences created after the severe floods of 1982. The River Ouse is fed by the Rivers Ure, Swale and Nidd draining the Yorkshire Dales and often used to cause a back flow along the low lying River Foss flooding areas of York like Foss Islands and Huntington Road bordering the river. To prevent the back flow along the Foss the barrier was constructed and is lowered when the level of water at the barrier reaches 7.8 metres. The weight of the barrier is sixteen and a half tonnes. To prevent the water in the River Foss Backing up on itself the water is pumped from the Foss into the River Ouse. During the severe floods of Autumn 2000 the barrier was in place for 18 days and the pumps were used continuously for ten days at a power consumption cost of £20,000.
5 comments:
This is a lead of sorts but I would love to see more figures, if any, on storage capacity, for my resarch on flood defences. Thanks
Sorry can't help you, all the information in the item came from a plaque next to the barrier.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the foss barrier? Thanks
is the pumping station in the glass above the foss barrier?
Anonymous asked about disadvantages, we found out at the end of 2015 when it was felt necessary to open the barrier during flooding because the pumps had failed due to lack of maintenance. Severe flooding was experienced upstream on the Foss and many homes and businesses were damaged. One, the Blue Bicycle was so severely damaged with a wall being knocked out that it has still not re-opened and probably never will.
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