CULVERT REPAIRS PROGRESSING THANKS TO SPECIALIST CONFINED SPACE TEAM

A scheme to repair defects in an important culvert running under the streets of Ryde is progressing. Island Roads, working with specialist contractors, are around halfway through a 4-week scheme to make repairs to Monkton Mead Culvert, which runs underneath Simeon Street, The Strand and Cornwall Street. The work involves a specialist team skilled in working in confined spaces. Cornwall Street is closed whilst these works take place. The culvert is vital to the drainage system in the area, taking the Monktonmead Brook out to sea. In October 2019, a major engineering project to create a new outfall into Ryde Marina was completed. The existing culvert – which is currently subject to the repairs – joins a new ‘pipe’ made up of 92 separate concrete sections, each weighing 13 tonnes and tall enough to stand in. These run under the sand and out to the marina. However, this flood prevention project wasn’t enough to stop Monktonmead being flooded again in October last year.