21-Jul-2006
- The Environment Agency’s flood defence scheme
at Hexham has seen the installation of a trash
screen at Sele Park which doubles up as an eye-catching
work of art.
The screen is an integral part
of the flood defence scheme and is installed to
catch trees and other large debris being washed
down the Cockshaw Burn. The aim is to improve
trash screen facilities within the Cockshaw and
Halgut Burn to reduce the risk of blockages to
culverts.
Gloucestershire-based artist
Matthew Fedden was commissioned by the Environment
Agency, with the help of Commissions North and
Northern Rock Building Society, to provide a structure
that would be both robust and practical to maintain,
but sympathetic in its use of materials and provide
visual enhancement to the area.
He came up with a design comprising
four oak totem poles. They have been carved and
coloured with the use of a blow torch, with two
of the poles featuring stained glass and prisms
to create coloured light.
Nigel Darling, flood risk management
engineer said: "Matthew’s design is an attractive
alternative to trash screens used in the past.
While providing an eye-catching monument for the
local community, it is a key part of our scheme
to reduce flooding on the Cockshaw Burn."
Three further screens - the
Cockshaw Culvert, Hexham House and Halgut screen,
are proposed for later in the project.
Ground work for the £6.5
million flood defence scheme at Hexham started
in March 2005, after several years of planning
between the Environment Agency designers Jacobs
Babtie and contractor, Volker Stevin.
The flood defence scheme
at Hexham aims to protect a total of 99 residential
properties and 51 businesses.
Francesca Glyn-Jones
