Norton Canes is a historic village in Staffordshire. Due to its age (dating back to 1086), little was known about the condition or location of its drainage assets, leaving the village increasingly vulnerable to flooding. Many drainage assets had been in operation for decades, yet there were no records of their existence.
Following severe flooding in 2020/21, an analysis of flooding hotspots across Staffordshire highlighted the need for a clearer understanding of the drainage network. This insight was essential in developing a comprehensive management plan to reduce flood risk and inform a targeted, risk-based maintenance programme.
KaarbonTech conducted a connectivity survey, looking at the underground infrastructure across the village. The survey revealed a complex ‘spiders web’ of pipework that had been installed and developed over the lifetime of the village. This survey provided a clear view of the network and its condition.
Live updates from the onsite crew were transmitted in real time to the office team, allowing for immediate insights and quick updates to the flood risk model for the location. One example of the complexity of the survey was at one point counted 22 linear pipe networks crossing over each other, within a 10-metre radius.
With this complete picture of the asset state, projects could be planned more effectively, to address future drainage demand.
The real-time updates created a full, accurately mapped asset inventory and video history the drainage network, enabling the implementation of beneficial schemes to be mitigate flood risks.
This provided robust evidence to bid for grants and funding in Norton Canes from the Environment Agency and DEFRA to alleviate future flood risk. This resulted in the first community scheme at the local ‘community hub’, as part of a FAIR (Flood: Aware, Informed, Resilient) Project.
Further Reading: https://www.fairflood.org/fair/community-flood-schemes/
"Having access to real time information is essential for the work we do. This has given us a really good insight on the projects we can do within Norton Canes.
"
