[Closed] Working for the Environment Agency, and how my weekend escalated somewhat...

Sometimes you're reminded this place isn't just full of vacuous argumentative arses.

I don't know what to say, but have a sticker!

No one should blame EA staff for the recent problems.

Spent 5 years down there, know Arundel quite well. Amazing job by you and your guys.

Interesting story and pics - thanks.

Sounds like a job well done (bit of an understatement!). Good on you and all the others folks who do this kind of thing. Thanks!

Amazing, well done.

could've done something about the <harrumph> "patio" and pointing on the wall there

great read. Thanks! I work for a eng. dept in a uni, do you mind if I cut and paste the text and pics to send for some colleagues who teach a flooding module to see if it's useful to the students? Amazing how disinterested many of them are so I try and and gather as many 'real world' pics as possible to try and spark some interest

Now that was really intresting, from doing nothing to saving peoples homes, always nice to find out what people do in their day jobs.

Imagine what would have happened if the burst water pipe had washed out the roadway supporting the crane.

@ferals, I wrote in one handed feeding ravioli to a 1yr old, as long as you treat it as such, obviously this is the 'short' version. 😀

Nice work OP!

Nice work OP shame your lot don't do much Oooop North 😉

That is awesome

Don't suppose you have any jobs going????

Where's the frikin Like button?

Well done Sir ( and associated gang )

Don't suppose you have any jobs going????

chairman just got told to resign, Must have a basic knowledge og geography to apply for the job though

"proper job" Well done

Great write up, fascinating read, about a job well done.

What does

A 120tonne crane builds itself with counterweights brought to site on a low loader.

Out of interest , what happens next. Do the EA pick up the bill for permanent repairs to the property, or are you just tasked with averting the immediate danger ?
Do you have to repeat the operation to remove the bags or are the contents dispersed when the permanent repair is undertaken.

Well done to the OP and all involved. As someone else said - sometimes even 'we' can do a decent job.

You make us all proud OP 😆

Good job.

Don't suppose you have any jobs going????

Not sure if they still have a hold on all recruiting unless its an essential position.

Was thinking a little lower than chairman, but beggars can't be choosers and all that.

Like!

[quote=project ]chairman just got told to resign, Must have a basic knowledge og geography to apply for the job though

I know what a hanging valley is - will that do?

Thanks for the write up, excellent stuff - I'm curious what the flow rate is like on the Arun to make it the 2nd fastest in the country though? Oh and which river flows faster?

Astounding work! Everyone involved should be deservedly proud of themselves for that particular mission.
I must admit I had a bit of a chuckle looking at the first photo, which clearly shows that classic British stoicism in the face of impending disaster: the lady in the kitchen of the left-hand house calmly making a pot of tea! Priceless. 😆

What does

A 120tonne crane builds itself with counterweights brought to site on a low loader.

mean?

Well done, OP - good job and good write up.

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Great write-up.

I couldn't even follow the river Arun inland in broad daylight to find my way back to the South Downs Way, let alone dam the thing and save the town from ruin.

You didn't say what your role was, groupie? photographer? poet laureate? official spokesman? teaboy? fluffer? titan? rain maker? soothsayer? psychic? astral healer? fisherman? chin scratcher? lollipop lady?

Oh and which river flows faster?

Is it a competition? I'm going for the Swale!

Well done OP!

Pah, the Germans would have done it in a day (joke).

Great job and a great write up and pictures. I'm often amazed by public whinging along the lines of "well, they should just fix the bridge!". This shows a few of the complexities involved in a simple "well just put some rocks down!".

I bet the bill for that little excercise was, er, reasuring! 😉

Would have been cheaper to just buy an old narrow boat, sink it across the gap and use a concrete pump to fill it up with concrete. Job done!

You can use that technique next time FOC by the way..... 😉

The river severn? For fastest river

Would have been cheaper to just buy an old narrow boat, sink it across the gap and use a concrete pump to fill it up with concrete. Job done!

Oh yea the EA conservationist would have a field day with that one.

Wooaah four tonnes of rocks hanging over a house 8O. Bet the residents were shaken up by the whole ordeal. Well done for the good job.

Nice read, thanks.

Good work OP. Think you're in Worthing too? Working on an EA scheme at the moment, phosphate reduction on wastewater sites. Not quite as exciting as this but the hours aren't so anti-social!

Fascinating, thank you.

Interesting read, thanks for posting.

I imagine the risk assessment for that lift over the houses was pretty full on!?

Good post, well done. Other than your to$$er ex boss who now has more time to spend in the Bahamas, I reckon the Environment Agency deserves a lot more credit than it gets.

Lovely job. You should get that sort of thing up on the EA website with a blog/ latest actions type of thing. Might help demonstrate the value of properly funding the EA in the long term. Plus big machinery and engineering is awesome.

James and your team great work done.

Thanks for posting this. It gives a real insight in to the why's and how a job like this is done. I would speak a journalist to see if they would be interested in running a story maybe with the other services you were working with as hopefully it would inform those that hindered you into moving quicker next time this happens.

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Good read - very good ending and informative!!

Credit to you and the team!

Working on an EA scheme at the moment, phosphate reduction on wastewater sites.

because banning phosphate in detergents is so much more expensive......

OP you sir are a legend and deserve a hot bath and a cuppa followed by and good nights rest and tomorrow a day off riding.

Was a good read OP and keep up the good work.

Top job.
Did any of the locals make you a cup of tea or say thank you?

because banning phosphate in detergents is so much more expensive......

I don't think the fertiliser run off helps either. Not sure that chucking ferric acid into the process is the answer environmentally, probably better to to stop it getting into the water course in the first place

I must admit I had a bit of a chuckle looking at the first photo, which clearly shows that classic British stoicism in the face of impending disaster: the lady in the kitchen of the left-hand house calmly making a pot of tea! Priceless.

Lovely read, thanks OP for posting.

I'd love a downshift job with the EA...

Good read, thanks. I imagine the EA is pretty stretched at the moment... We seem to be missing fair old chunks of river banks, canal banks and the odd bridge here in the Calder Valley. And that's without looking across into the Lakes, Scotland or the North East.

Really interesting post, thanks!

I feel a lesser man after reading that.

River Severn is the fastest, 5 points.

What is my role? - good question, we have a permanent standby of staff 24/7 who keep tabs on river levels and weather. This incident triggered the on duty staff member to escalate the situation. By the time I got to work the incident room was opened and a rota of people being populated to fulfil the myriad of work this generates. Outside of this rigid structure (that was also dealing with pollution incidents and further flooding) we operate a logistics and engineering cell. I managed this side of things in this incident, it's an as and when scenario, I'm not on a roster and I have to drop the day job or weekend if I happen to get collared.

Who pays and how much did it cost. - The Environment Agency (through taxation) will probably pay for these works. We won't pay to fix the private defence wall as it is if there is a solution with a better benefit/cost ratio, if that happens to be the cheapest way of protecting the town then so be it. The strategy for the area recommends a £20m sheet pile solution in 2050, it may be this is brought forward, if so, contributions from various beneficiaries will be sought.
Cost? Less than a 911, more than a Boxster.

Will we have to remove the bags? - I will not lift this material that has been in a watercourse over property. I suspect removal will involve a very big knife and the rock will be allowed to wash away. This is a long way in the future.

Did the locals make us cups of tea? - generally yes, some people were very frightened and we and our partners hopefully managed to reassure them as best as possible. We had the normal range of reactions. Some were abusive because the road was closed, some were angry they had to move their cars a few refused. A minority were seeking compensation for the noise disturbing them. However, like all of these stories, I think the people who didn't voice an opinion were probably grateful we have a civilised system of taxation that means should this happen, there is a mechanism in place to minimise the potential harm. A local pub made us free tea all day and I was gifted a slice of home made fruit cake.

One chap 'accidentally' moved the road closure sign to drive to his spot outside the pub, I think the sight of the artic backing toward him made him need the pint more than he thought!

And I should add, none of this is possible without contractors prepared to commit to long term Government contracts and be part of the wide ranging partnership that makes up the UK infrastructure. Not *all government contracts are Daily Mail style bad news.

Nicely put.

That was easy, wait till you have been Jabberd 😆

Good job in publicizing what we do, I hope that makes the weekly buzz.

Impressive. Not the securing of the river and the prevent of collapse of properties, but this bit:

I wrote it one handed feeding ravioli to a 1yr old

IME that takes placement skills far in excess of dumping a bag of gravel near a wall. I bet you got it all round their mouth didn't you 😉

Some were abusive because the road was closed, some were angry they had to move their cars a few refused. A minority were seeking compensation for the noise disturbing them.

EA issue bombers? Do you have access to shoes?

Some utter fools in this world.....

Top Job!!

It's amazing what you can do when folk just work together to do the right thing (and how much effort it takes to have the contract structures and relationships in place to allow that to occur!)

was it just me or did anyone else have the Thunderbirds theme tune going through their head when looking at the pictures 🙂

Waterloo
Trafalger
Dunkirk
And now, Arundel
Great post, very informative and sheds a light into a world I know nothing about.

Really interesting stuff this.

Pictonroad - do I understand it correctly that you have a different day job, but are effectively on call for the EA a bit like military reserves?

My village in East Sussex has flood defences, that in times of flood risk get manned and monitored 24/7. By its nature this work is antisocial hours in poor weather/working conditions.

Chapeau to you all.

Day job is a Project Executive in the capital schemes department. Got a promotion just before Christmas from Project Manager, been here 10 yrs.

For a major incident like this I have to drop the day job. Although on Monday morning after 3hrs sleep I had to shower, iron a shirt and drive to Tonbridge to chair a meeting for rather large* agency led project on the River Medway. I was thoroughly knackered.

It's always sobering to come home feeling heroic and be told the Mrs has been managing two vomiting children on her own for 3 days. It's not often considered how ongoing incidents affect people's families.

This was a short intense project, back to the day job today. For ongoing ground water events it can reduce people to their base instincts. I've seen a meek engineer smash a phone to its constituent parts after one too many stupid questions.

Hat's off to all evolved, enjoyed reading that so thanks for sharing

Excellent work OP.
Just wondering, if a similar job was done as planned maintenance, how long would it take to organise & get done?