Inverness South West Flood Relief Scheme

Phase 4 of the Inverness South West Flood Relief Scheme is now well underway, the final phase of the £16m project to divert flood water from upland watercourses and is on course for completion before the end of 2012.

This final phase lies between Oldtown of Leys and the Ault na Skiah Burn to the south of Fairways Golf course. This phase diverts flood waters from four watercourses; Lochardil Burn, Slackbuie Channel, Slackbuie Springs and Ault na Skiah Burn by means of flow control structures into the River Ness, via the Holm Burn.  On completion of this final phase the scheme becomes fully operational protecting the south side of Inverness from such flooding.

The flood relief channel is constructed with a very flat gradient to allow a large volume of water to be accommodated whilst minimising the scouring effect which would be created by fast flowing water.

The total length of construction for this final phase is 1,400 metres. Approximately half of this will be buried precast concrete box culverts and the remainder will be open channel.  The work involves excavations to typical depths of 5 metres to enable the installation of the 14 tonne concrete box sections that form the culverts.

Contractors RJ Mcleod from Dingwall are working in partnership with the Council; Scottish & Southern Energy; and Scottish Water to deliver the final phase of this important flood alleviation project to reduce flooding in Inverness. It requires work by the contractor to construct the channel under 132kV electricity cables as well as under the main water supply pipeline from Loch Ashie to Inverness.

Works on site commenced in November 2011 and the Contractor has already successfully completed the culvert section beneath the electricity cables, and will shortly commence a temporary diversion of the water main using industry standard proven technologies to ensure there is no disruption to consumers.

Convener of The Highland Council, Councillor Jimmy Gray said, “This is a major project for the city and represents a significant investment in flood mitigation measures to deal with exceptional weather flood events as and when they may arise in the future and is a clear indicator of the likely costs of dealing with flood risk.”