Delayed river works to complete by April

Work to install an eel screen at the New River intake on the River Lea at Gauge House should be complete by the beginning of April after repeated delays put the project back by over six months.

The works commenced in November 2021 and were scheduled to end in late Summer or early Autumn of last year but a series of setbacks have dogged the project.

The collapse of an underground wall meant that the entire scheme had to be redesigned, causing months of delay. Further issues with dredging meant that divers had to lay over a thousand sandbags before the eel screen could be put in place. The cold weather in November also put the project back a number of weeks.

Reinstatement work is now underway with the twopath expected to reopen in the next couple of weeks, before contractors vacate the site in the next 4-5 weeks.

The new screens will prevent young eels and other waterbourne species from entering the New River.