Thursday 23 June 2016

Council agrees on work on two Eastern drains

The Council today agreed to progress flood mitigation and repair on two Eastern Christchurch drains to detailed design and construction.

The options agreed to today are for Breezes Road Drain (within the Estuary Drain Catchment), which runs from near the Estuary end of Breezes Road, behind Delamare Park and connects to Estuary Drain in Bexley Reserve, and No 1 Drain, a 480 metre-long drain located in the Shirley Links Golf Course.

In the Estuary Drain area, earthquake damage has reduced the drain’s capacity. This, coupled with earthquake damage to drainage infrastructure throughout the catchment, has increased flood risk in the area.

The flood mitigation option agreed on today for the Breezes Road Drain includes the reconstruction of the drain, and upsizing and extending the piped network upstream of the Drain, adjacent to Breezes Road.

This option will reduce flood risk within the catchment, and is predicted to remove the floor-level flood risk from two properties that were not at risk of flooding before the earthquakes. The work, at a cost of around $1.8M funded from the Land Drainage Recovery Programme, will also return the drainage network in this area to a serviceable state. Construction could start as early as later this year.

The concrete-lined No.1 Drain in Shirley has suffered extensive earthquake damage in the waterway with bank slumping and broken panels. Further failure could result in an increased flood risk and repair is needed to ensure the drain keeps functioning.

The agreed work programme will see the western half of No.1 Drain repaired through ‘naturalisation’, where the concrete channel will be replaced with natural earth banks and planted. Spot repairs will be done on the eastern half of the drain.

This will bring improved capacity to the waterway, and improve its ecological health with the formation of new habitats and shading of the waterway. The $1.5M work programme will be funded from the Land Drainage Recovery Programme, with construction looking to start early next year.

The Council also agreed to include design for stormwater quality treatment as part of the detailed design work for No 1. Drain.

Manager Land Drainage Keith Davison says today’s decisions will see another piece of the city’s land drainage jigsaw fall into place.

“Restoring our land drainage network post-quake is a complex challenge, with projects like these each having a role to play in reducing flood risk to our communities.”

“We will continue to work with people in these communities to make sure the work has minimal impact on them and their everyday activities.”

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