River Dearne in Yorkshire

Some people quit the booze for January but dry January for the River Dearne in Yorkshire had a totally different meaning. The cascading weir at Yorkshire Sculpture Park can be seen in this photo without any water flowing over it. No, the River Dearne hasn’t stopped flowing, don’t worry! It was diverted around the series of weirs to make it easier for our surveyors and engineers to carry out an assessment on the structures for possible maintenance work. If only we could do this for all the structures we survey!

We have increased our capacity this month with the addition of a new surveyor; John Eddowes who comes from a good surveying background with strong railway links. John is a qualified COSS and got straight to work on the numerous scour protection surveys that we are currently undertaking. One of the surveys near Sellafield in Cumbria had gabion baskets protecting the left bank on the approach to the bridge. The gabions had been undermined and were falling into the river. It looks like the surveyors have only just got here in time to record the condition and dimensions of this bridge and surroundings! Welcome on board John!