December 20, 2019 11.29 am This story is over 51 months old

Lincoln farm still flooded six weeks after Barlings Eau breach

A road closure remains in place

Over 1,000 acres appear to still be under water and a road closure in place almost six weeks after the Barlings Eau was breached.

The Barlings Eau, five miles east of Lincoln, flooded into land around Short Ferry after the bank collapsed on November 9.

Kurnia Aerial Photography filmed footage of the latest situation on Thursday, December 19, saying “Short Ferry Road is now becoming visible on the east side” and “pumps are now in place on the west side”.

According to roadworks.org the road will be closed until January 12, 2020, although emergency access will be maintained at all times.

Photo: Kurnia Aerial Photography

Farmers in Lincoln left stranded by floods previously demanded to know when the Environment Agency would fix the nearby breached river.

Henry Ward owns a farm east of the city which, after five days of water flowing through a breach on the Barlings Eau, more closely resembled a lake. The Ward family, along with four other farmers, tends more than 1,500 acres of land which was flooded in up to six feet of water.

The Environment Agency began repair work on the breach nearly a month after farmers were left stranded. Workers used pontoons and amphibious diggers to access the riverbank. The Environment Agency previously said its teams will install at least 40m of piling in the bank.

In another recent video from Kurnia Aerial Photography from December 16, it states that “preventative measures are also being carried out” and the “flood water is now higher than the level in the Barlings Eau”.

‪Over 5 weeks since the Barlings Eau breached and 1,000’s of areas are still under water & flood levels higher than the river level. Repairs completed but Short Ferry Road looks like it will be closed for some time yet and businesses are being sadly affected. We understand that pumps are due to arrive this week.

Posted by Aerial Filming & Photography by The Drone Man – Kurnia Aerial Photography on Monday, 16 December 2019

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We’ve completed repair work on the Barlings Eau, which involved using a floating pontoon and amphibious equipment to drive huge steel piles into the banks at the site of the breach and another weak spot further along.

“Our contractor has now removed their equipment and four large pumps have been delivered to the site. These pumps – which will be operating around the clock throughout the Christmas period – will be shifting 48 Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of water off the land every day.

The Environment Agency carried out repairs. Photo: Environment Agency

“Meanwhile we’re in contact with affected landowners almost daily and we will continue to work with them and partners like the IDBs to look at how flood risk can be sustainably managed in the future.”

The timescale for any further repairs will depend on the weather.

The Lincolnite also contacted Lincolnshire County Council for further information, but there was no reply by the time of publication.