The South East Thatcham Flood Alleviation Scheme Blog
The South East Thatcham Flood Alleviation Scheme is a project to build several surface water retaining earth embankments at Dunstan Green Park, public open space near Kennet School, and carry re-profiling of the Harts Hill Road and Francis Baily Primary School and Kennet School playing field. The scheme aims to reduce surface water flood risk to 62 properties at the south east of Thatcham.
We'll upload news and weekly updates here as the scheme progresses.
For any questions, comments or further information, get in touch with the Highways Projects Team.

South East Thatcham FAS - Weeks 33 and 34
Written on: 26-11-2019
Floral Way The contractor has begun laying the erosion control mattress at the top of the spillway which is anchored into the trench. Please refer to the week 31 and 32 blog for more information on the spillway. Across the road from the main site, the foundation for the reinforced concrete outlet structure has now been laid and the assembly of reinforcement bars for the new structure is on-going.
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Dunston Green Park The contractor has begun soil stripping at the northern end of the park. Here, a swale and an adjoining bund will be constructed.
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Siege Cross The bund at the north end of the site are nearing completion and has been capped with flood defence markers. The contractor has also began constructing a new footpath which will replace a section of the existing east-west footpath.
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South East Thatcham FAS - Weeks 31 and 32
Written on: 11-11-2019
Floral Way The earthworks has progressed well despite the recent wet weather. The contractor has continued excavating surplus material from Floral Way to form the reservoir basin area. Work has also started on the spillway on the downstream side of the dam. The spillway (or overflow channel) is a structure that provides for the safe and controlled release of excess water from the reservoir to the downstream area. The spillway will be formed using a reinforced grass mats to ensure that the structural integrity of the dam is not affected by erosion if overtopping were to ever occurred. Work on the reinforced concrete outlet structure on the south side of Floral Way is now in progress. The excavations are completed and the reinforcement bars for the new structure are now being installed.
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Dunston Green Park The contractor has completed the flood defence wall and associated earthworks at the southern end of the Green. There is an existing oil pipeline that runs through the park that required works to protect it before the one of the bunds that crosses the pipe could be constructed. This involved exposing the pipeline and installing a reinforced concrete protection slab over the pipe. This work was undertaken by a specialist contractor under the supervision of the Oil Pipeline Agency. There are two swales that form part of the Dunstan Green scheme. One of the swales is situated at the north end of the park off Hart's Hill Road and the second one in Marsh Meadows. A section of the footway along Harts Hill Road has been lowered to allow water to flow off the road into the swale. This involved lowering British Telecom cables within the footway. The excavation of both swales are now in progress.
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Siege Cross The contractor has continued to excavate material to create the flood storage areas at the north end of the park and to form the bunds which will impound most of the flood water.
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South East Thatcham FAS - Weeks 29 and 30
Written on: 24-10-2019
Floral Way The contractor has continued excavating surplus material from Floral Way. Excavation to build a reinforced concrete outlet structure for the culvert situated on the south side of Floral Way is still in progress and temporary traffic lights have been placed to safely carry out the work.
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Dunston Green Park The contractor has completed installing the brick cladding to the front and back face of the flood defence wall and is now laying a concrete coping to the top of the wall. One of the bunds proposed in Dunstan Green Park, which runs parallel to London Road, has been laid with flood defence markers to complete the installation. The contractor has also begun works at the northern section of the park to build a swale.
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Siege Cross The contractor has continued with the removal of surplus earth. The continuous wet weather has made the conditions on site difficult to start the bund work.
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South East Thatcham FAS - Week 28
Written on: 14-10-2019
Although the continued wet weather has made the conditions on site difficult, the contractor has managed to make good progress across all three sites. Floral Way
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Dunston Green Park The contractor has completed installing the brick cladding to the front face of the flood defence wall and is now laying bricks along the back face.
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Siege Cross
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South East Thatcham FAS - Week 27
Written on: 9-10-2019
Progress has been slow this week due to the recent wet weather. However, the contractor has continued excavating surplus material from Floral Way and Siege Cross Park. Floral Way
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Dunston Green Park
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Siege Cross
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