New Foss Barrier to be installed in New Year - almost a year late

The final stage of an upgrade to the Foss Barrier and Pumping Station - the installation of a new, higher lifting gate near the confluence of the Foss and the River Ouse - was initially planned for spring 2020.

But the Environment Agency says that unfortunately, a combination of heavy rain early in the year and challenges caused by the coronavirus, including a manufacturing delay and officers being unable to visit the site, meant this has not yet happened.

“We are now working to a revised timetable and are aiming to install the gate later this winter,” said a spokeswoman.

“As always when working in a river, our plans are weather dependent.”

She said the agency was also replacing and upgrading the mechanical and electrical equipment that operates the gate, and it would be raising the height of the floodwall between the hotel and Skeldergrate Bridge and installing a pedestrian floodgate.

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The new gate will be 400mms taller than the existing gate to counter the growing risk of flooding through the 21st century posed by climate change.

It will prevent floodwaters from the Ouse flowing up the Foss and flooding properties alongside the river.

The adjacent pumping station, which pumps floodwaters from the Foss into the Ouse, has already been upgraded.

The agency has replaced all eight pumps with much more powerful pumps, carried out work to the pumping station building, installed high voltage electricity supplies and five new back-up generators to maintain the operation of all eight pumps at maximum capacity in the event of power failure.

It can now pump 50 cubic meters of water per second, an increased volume from the 30 cubic meters per second at the time of the flooding in 2015, when the pumps were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of water pouring down the Foss following prolonged and heavy rainfall.

The barrier had to be lifted and hundreds of businesses and homes in streets such as Piccadilly, Fossgate, Walmgate, Navigation Road, Foss Islands Road, Hungate and Huntington Road, as well as around tributaries such as Tang Hall Beck and Osbaldwick Beck, were inundated.

Businesses which were flooded out included the Jorvik Viking Centre, the Red Lion in Merchantgate, the BT telephone exchange in Hungate and numerous shops and cafes in Walmgate and Fossgate.

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The Environment Agency spokeswoman said the £38 million upgrade would better protect more than 1,000 properties and make them more resilient to climate change.

A flood storage area will also be created upstream of York next year, which will slow the flow of floodwaters down the Foss.