Significant culvert repair scheme at Brook Street in Aberaman
In 2018 the councils’ neglect in maintaining watercourses and culverts has exacted a heavy toll on the residents of Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT). This lack of maintenance has led to widespread flooding of homes and businesses, leaving residents with significant repair costs. Those who have suffered flooding now face the additional burden of higher insurance premiums. It is always the residents who bear the brunt of these failures, struggling with the ongoing financial and emotional strain caused by the council’s neglect.
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The Council advise residents in Aberaman are being given advanced notice of an essential upcoming scheme at Brook Street and a Significant culvert repair scheme at Brook Street in Aberaman to repair an ordinary watercourse culvert – which is likely to cause some disruption locally.
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July, 2021
There are limitations within the existing RCTCBC culvert policy, particularly regarding how vague it is on many of the technical aspects. There is little knowledge on the frequency of maintenance, or how any of this maintenance is carried out.
The RCTCBC has carried out many investigations into instances of flooding, as is the case for the
Storm Callum flooding on the 12th and 13th of October 2018. As the LLFA the RCTCBC are required to
do this under Section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act (2010). In this example, the cause
was determined to be the result of an ‘unconsented structure blocking the inlet of a 200mm
rectangular culvert within the Brook Street area of Aberaman, reducing the capability of the culvert
to handle Q100 + 30% events to Q30 + 30% events (Griffiths, 2019a). The management of this
culvert came under the responsibility of a riparian owner, and not the responsibility of the RCTCBC.
Evidence suggests that except for serious storm events, the drainage systems and culverts are
adequate. Inlet sizes of box culverts are capable of handling annual average rainfalls. However, this
assumes that the systems are running as intended without unforeseen factors inhibiting their
efficiency. Investigations following the 2018 Brook Street Flooding show that there were indeed
culverts that had fallen into disrepair and have partially filled up with debris (Griffiths, 2019a). Such
factors could easily include sediment and debris accumulation, as well as obstructions created by the
property owners of where the inlets are located. Frequent maintenance of identified culverts is
required to ensure that this does not become an ever-present issue. Evidence shows that there exist
many culverts that have fallen into disrepair as a result of their unknown and unmonitored status.
While some of this disrepair may be considered negligible there still lies the potential that some of it
could be serious enough to impact or even trigger a flooding event, such as what occurred during
the 2018 Brook Street flooding (Griffiths, 2019a).
Section 19 Flood Investigation Report Storm Callum – Brook Street Aberaman
