We finished the stone cladding to this river wall repair just as the river levels were rising. We knew from experience how volatile the level of the River Ribble in Settle could be. We’d had to admit defeat last September (2017) when the river consistently rose over 1.5m in height every few days reflecting the wet late summer. This meant that placing the concrete to the foundation of our precast retaining wall sections behind our 1m high dam had become impossible. Such was the speed of the river when the level rose, anything left in the river was washed away and destroyed. River data and weather forecasts were analysed to predict a 3 day window but in the end we had to pull off site.

The long dry summer of 2018 gave us the 12 week window we needed to return to successfully carry out the work. The finished product showcases the skill of a local stone mason.

Heavy rain, high river levels and scouring caused this river wall collapse in 2016. The wall forms part of the Arla Dairy boundary, protecting the dairy site from flooding from the very highest river levels.

Howard Civil Engineering were called upon to talk through a solution and proposed the use of precast ‘L’ shaped retaining wall sections (for speed) clad with locally sourced stone. The unaffected sections to the side of the failure were reinforced with soil nails.