A milestone has been reached on a £70 million flood alleviation project in Ipswich.

The 200-tonne tidal gate has arrived at the construction site of the scheme on the middle island of the Port of Ipswich.

A 1,000-tonne crane to lift the gate into place is now being assembled. Once installed into the barrier structure, the main hydraulic rams and control systems can then be installed and there will be a testing period of a further eight weeks.

The gate was designed and built in Rotterdam, Holland, by Hollandia, a subcontractor for Environment Agency contractor VBA – a joint venture between VolkerStevin, Boskalis Westminster and Atkins, which is delivering the £70m flood scheme.

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Taking two years to assemble, the gate is 22 metres wide and will stand nine metres tall when in its 'closed position'. It is finished with five tonnes of special protective paint.

Overall, the Ipswich Flood Defence Management Strategy will reduce the risk of flooding to 1,608 homes and 422 businesses as well as support key infrastructure.

The final element of the scheme involves building a tidal barrier across the New Cut River in Ipswich, with associated works to tie it into the new east and west bank walls and gates. The barrier is expected to be operational in the spring of 2018.

Andrew Usborne, Project Manager, said: "This is a key milestone for the project and sees the final elements of the barrier arriving on site. The construction of the crane will take several days, and this is a very busy period for what has been a long-running project. It's another step closer to significantly improving the flood protection for Ipswich."

(LM/JP)