Important flood alleviation work to get underway in Porth
During the early hours of Sunday 16th February 2020, RCT received several calls from
residents at Porth reporting the overtopping of the River Rhondda and Rhondda Fach
and the ingress of water into properties.
To the northwest of the investigation area, two culvert inlets associated to the Nant
Llwyncelyn Watercourse were identified as sources of flooding to 2 residential and 7
commercial properties during Storm Dennis. Both inlets are highlighted in Figure 7
which also illustrates the large catchment area associated to the Nant Llwyncelyn
watercourse.
Nant Llwyncelyn ordinary watercourse catchment area and associated infrastructure
identified as sources of flooding during Storm Dennis
The Nant Llwyncelyn ordinary watercourse drains the northern hillsides above Porth
and is culverted beneath residential development at ‘Culvert Inlet 1’, adjacent to St
Luke’s Road. The ordinary watercourse continues to convey as an open channel
toward Llwyncelyn Industrial Estate and is culverted again at ‘Culvert Inlet 2’ which
conveys the industrial estate’s access road. Beyond the access road, the culverted
ordinary watercourse conveys south-easterly towards the River Rhondda.
Beyond the confluence of the Rhondda Fawr and Fach Rivers, the River Rhondda
reportedly overtopped the eastern retaining wall to the rear of Porth Police Station,
resulting in significant deposition of mud and silt onto the highway network and causing
internal flooding to one commercial property at Porth Street.
The Council will deliver a significant Resilient Roads scheme at Turberville Road in Porth, with work starting on site from next week.
The scheme has received support from Welsh Government’s Resilient Roads Fund programme, and will aim to reduce the risk of flooding to the highway during periods of heavy rainfall.
Work will begin from Monday, November 18, and the scheme is anticipated to be completed in early spring 2025.
The scheme will deliver an upgrade to the existing highway headwall inlet structure at Turberville Road.
Improvements will also be made to the existing watercourse channel and the drainage infrastructure positioned upstream, to improve the conveyance of water to the new headwall.
Calibre Contracting Ltd has been appointed to deliver the work on site, on behalf of the Council.
The contractor will require traffic management at locations along Turberville Road to deliver some elements of the scheme, but no road closures are anticipated.
Earlier this year, Welsh Government confirmed an allocation of £500,000 to Rhondda Cynon Taf, from its Resilient Roads Fund programme for 2024/25.
It also gave approval for further funding of around £3m for flood alleviation works, subject to all permissions to proceed – linked to its funding allocations for Resilient Roads and also the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Small Scale Works Grant.
Thanks to the community in Porth in advance for your cooperation during the upcoming work.
