Major works have been completed at a Boston pumping station which is vital in the protection against flooding. The final stages of a refurbishment project has seen a new diesel pump chamber door and refurbished winch gear installed at Hobhole Pumping Station.
Hobhole Pumping Station works being carried out.
It is the sixth door to be replaced in recent years and bosses hope it will bring the station up to date. Project manager Martin Redding, assistant engineering manager and environment officer for the Witham Fourth District Internal Drainage Board (IDB), said: The conclusion of this refurbishment project and one concluded last year to renew the gravity sluice will ensure this vital pumping station continues to remain operational well into the twenty first century.
The pumping station is the largest capacity IDB-owned diesel powered pumping station in England. Funding for the work has been secured from Flood Defence Grand in Aid (FDGiA). Mr Redding led the project while the IDBs own workforce worked in partnership with Cobra Engineering UK Ltd, AP Crane Hire from Gosberton, and Boston based South Lincolnshire Scaffold, and S J G Electrical & Security Ltd.
Mr Redding said: All contactors involved were sourced locally to ensure the project remained sustainable, but it also allowed for a familiarity with the site to evolve and keep the works programme running safely and smoothly.
Needless to say, all six new doors, which weigh 11 tonne each, are designed and built to withstand tidal surges such as experienced on the evening of December 5, 2013. While the works have been ongoing, two temporary tidal doors have been in place. They were built to a similar standard.
To shield from decay in the extreme brackish environment in which they reside, a non-toxic marine anti foul paint is applied to each door.