Working in partnership with Northumbrian Water Ltd, Tweed Forum have helped deliver 185 metres of riverbank restoration on the lower Wooler Water, which forms part of the River Till catchment. The project has involved designing and delivering a green-engineered bank protection solution to replace the failing hard-engineered boulder rip-rap which was installed under emergency measures back in 2012 to protect critical infrastructure following a major flood event.
The new solution, which was designed by cbec eco-engineering and delivered by Haywood Contracting, has involved the installation of over 100-plus timber root wads (trees with the root ball still intact) which were sourced locally from windblow trees following Storm Arwen in 2021. The project has also deployed 80 metres of bio-geotextile protection in the form of rock rolls.
The new solution will not only provide vital ongoing protection for critical infrastructure serving the local community of Wooler in a way that is more sensitive to the designated characteristics of the River Till SSSI/SAC, it will also provide valuable habitat for invertebrates and the juvenile fish that rely on them for food. This restoration work is part of the wider River Till Restoration Strategy.
Some of the work being carried out on the lower Wooler Water (below) with project officer Craig Marshall on site
You can read more about this story over at the Northumberland Gazette