Whilst I applaud the speed of construction in such major projects, there will always be a downside. Things done in hast without due thought nearly always end up in difficulties, this project being no different.
Over thousands of years, the river has found its own course and level, which has worked without intervention, When Man decides he wants to change the course of nature, then there is a price to pay. As the construction got closer to our house, I got chatting to the main digger driver and asked him why he was digging the river bed so deep below the natural level, a full 3 meters at least. He simply answered that he was told to just dig that depth and do it quickly!
Now it’s finished and we had our first rain, the problems are becoming very obvious (I’m no river expert but I saw this one coming!). The water will not drain or flow uphill!
Now the design engineers have decided that digging down below the level of the sea is not such a good idea, so they are now filling the river back up again!
The only problem is that it’s so muddy now that reversing multiple 30-tonne lorries back down the river will involve getting seriously stuck.
The skills of the digger driver are really amazing – he must be so used to doing this he soon emptied the lorry and pushed him out … I just can’t wait to see what the next brainwave will be.
Well, I did not have to wait long. Last night was a huge swell, and so now not only does the rain not flow uphill, the sea floods down the river far more than ever.
After much head-scratching and deliberation by the team of experts this morning, the digger was despatched once more…the 100+ lorries of soil placed back in the river bed was clearly not enough – our road has vanished and is still significantly lower than sea level so will not drain….
We live in hope one day it will work, or they build a bridge of course – but that’s too obvious! For now, we remain trapped unable to cross the river to get out