Prepare your property
- Important items and documents upstairs or at height
- Separate electrical circuit for upper and lower floors
- Boiler moved to upper floor of wall-mounted on ground floor
5km of the River Don, through Templeborough, Rotherham town centre, Parkgate and Kilnhurst
£31.1m for phases completed by 2023
The heart of Rotherham’s urban area is home to hundreds of businesses and homes. It also incorporates vital transport links, including roads, railway and tram train networks. Flooding has impacted them all, along with crucial infrastructure like water and sewerage. The June 2007 flood event led to the council incurring £15m in extra costs. Residents, businesses and infrastructure operators also incurred significant costs.
The Rotherham Canal Barrier – Credit: Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
The aim of the RRFAS is to reduce the risk of flooding to people, property and infrastructure. It is being delivered through a partnership approach and in phases, due to its scale.
The RRFAS’s range of measures include new flood defence walls and infrastructure, such as the canal barrier at Forge Island. The project is also improving public realm and creating a new wetland at Centenary Riverside, Templeborough.
Completed mural and new defences – Credit: Jackson Civils
Smeaton award presentation – Credit: Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Flooded railway line in Rotherham, November 2019 – Credit: Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Flooding in Rotherham town centre in November 2019 – Credit: Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Find out more about the Ickles Lock Project.
The project recognises that a changing climate is increasing the risk of flooding. Phase 1 included installing structural foundations that will allow the raising of flood defences in the future if needed.
To date, the scheme has reduced the risk of flooding to key roads, the rail network and over 100 businesses. It has improved key employment areas in Rotherham, securing existing jobs and creating new ones.
The flood defences at Forge Island have supported the major redevelopment of this new leisure destination in the heart of Rotherham.
A partnership between a range of organisations has given new life to a former steelworks site, creating 4.5 hectares of wetlands at Templeborough. Managed by Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, the Centenary Riverside Nature Reserve forms part of the wider flood alleviation scheme. Designed as a floodplain, it is also home to a wide variety of plants, flowers, birds, mammals and insects. It provides a valuable green space in the wider industrial and commercial landscape.
Multiple awards have recognised the success of works already delivered: