Flooding and erosion prevention in Sheffield

Porter Brook - an oasis for wildlife

When a flashy stream was unearthed in Sheffield Salix were brought in as specialist experts in erosion management by the Wild Trout Trust. The Porter Brook was subject to regular flooding, if it rained on the Peaks then the city centre would flood.

Naturalising a Stream at Bedlinog

Bedlinog post works with riffles and more natural flows

Constant flooding and erosion had been causing some serious problems for Merthyr Tydfil Council who manage an old reclaimed tip site, close to the village of Bedlinog in the Taff Bargoed Valley.

Cwmparc River Restoration

Spider machine at Cwmparc

Salix worked with Natural Resources Wales at Cwmparc in the Rhondda Valley to renaturalise the water courses in order to reduce flood risk and increase biodiversity.

Green Swales on Roadside

A11 SuDS green swales on roadside zero carbon

Soft engineered ‘Green Swale Grass Channel’ attenuates road run-off water, filters suspended solids, and traps hydro carbons and heavy metals, significantly improving water quality.

Rock Rolls – Effective Erosion Control

Rock rolls arrive in bundles with certified lifting straps

Rock Rolls offer flexibility and the fact they arrive on site pre-filled with stone greatly reduces installation time and therefore cost, compared to in-situ filled gabions. Rock rolls and mattresses can also be installed during live flow situations, which is not possible with standard gabions.

Slowing the flow at Cwmparc

Cwmparc and the spider in action

With funding from the Welsh Government’s Nature Fund, we supported Rhondda Cynon Taf Council in taking steps to naturalise one of the concrete channels which brings water down from the mountains at Cwmparc,

Restoring East Tullos Burn

Native plants, reed beds and pond at East Tullos

East Tullos Burn project transformed a waterway from a straight, hard-engineered channel, into a natural stream, functional floodplain and wetland habitat.

Sandwich Flood Alleviation and Spillway Scheme

Rock mattress tie in detail at hydraulic jump zone with Vmax C350

The £21.7 million flood defence scheme involved works on 16 individual reaches of the river and it reduced the risk of tidal flooding to 488 homes and 94 commercial properties in Sandwich. Client – Jackson Civil Engineering working on behalf of the Environment Agency.

Improving wildlife habitats on the Royal chalk River Babingley

Babingley chalk river restoration

With the help of Salix, the Norfolk Rivers Trust is improving fish and other river wildlife habitats on the River Babingley near Flitcham, one of only two hundred chalk rivers left in the world.

Salix installs new green channel to reduce A11 pollution

Fully biodegradeable HydraCX being sprayed onto the green drainage channel to aid erosion control.

Salix has installed a revolutionary green drainage channel along an 18km stretch of the A11 in Norfolk, between Fiveways and Thetford.

Naturalising a Stream: Bedlinog

Bedlinog coir roll application

Salix reviewed the options for improving water control and biodiversity at Nant Llwynog stream – an old reclaimed tip site close to the village of Bedlinog in the Taff Bargoed Valley.

Salix Rock Rolls Protect Titchwell Marsh

Titchwell Marshes Rock Rolls close up

As part of a series of measures to protect the freshwater habitats at Titchwell Marsh Nature Reserve on the north Norfolk coast,

Lake Desilting & Biodiversity Improvements at Midhurst’s South Pond

Revetments at Midhurst

The South Downs National Park Authority has commissioned Salix to help create a wildlife haven on the South Pond, at the edge of Midhurst town centre in West Sussex. The large 800-year old pond, which has a 270-metre perimeter and two small islands, had been suffering from pollution and heavy siltation.

New wetland habitats at East Tullos Burn

East Tullos map

Salix has worked with Aberdeen City Council, cbec and Walking-the-Talk to restore the East Tullos Burn in St Fittick’s Park, Torry,

Salix is now Europe’s largest producer of coir fibre rolls

coconut husks

Working directly with ethical, organic and sustainable suppliers in Sri Lanka, each year Salix imports hundreds of tonnes of compressed coir fibres and turns them into Coir Rolls and Pallets at its Thetford nursery in Norfolk.

VMax³ Shear Stress Turf

Salix have the facilities to contract grow turf using the VMax3 range of  Turf Reinforcement Mats

Salix have the facilities to contract grow turf using the VMax range of Turf Reinforcement Mats (TRMs). VMax C350 or P550 is used as the reinforcement element within the turf giving unprecedented scour protection performance.

VMax³ P550

VMax P550 On Reinforced River Bank

VMax³ P550 is composed of a permanent, ultra-high-strength, three-dimensional matting structure incorporated with a permanent 100% polypropylene fibre matrix.

VMax³ C350

VmaxC350

VmaxC350 is a permanent Turf Reinforcement for reinforcing soils. The VmaxC350 incorporates a coir fibre layer to provide instant erosion protection, whilst the three-dimensional grid provides significant long-term protection.

Sandwich Flood Alleviation Scheme

Rock mattress tie in detail at hydraulic jump zone with Vmax C350


The £21.7 million flood defence scheme involves works on 16 individual reaches of the River Stour and will reduce the risk of tidal flooding to 488 homes and 94 commercial properties in Sandwich.

Balfour Beatty endorse Salix’s erosion control solutions

Vmax image

We are delighted to report that Balfour Beatty have included our Eronet C125 and VMax C350 erosion control solutions and our Rock Mattresses in their Innovation Sheets.

Rock’n’Roll!

Rock rolls arrive in bundles with certified lifting straps

Rock Rolls are a robust, flexible and permanent revetment for use around reservoirs, shorelines, lake edges,

Salix appointed Sole UK Distributor for VMax Soil Erosion Range

Installing-VMax-P550-Turf-on-the-Teme

Salix are pleased to announce that We have been appointed as the sole distributors of the VMax® range of soil erosion control products formerly known as North American Green.

Tough Test on The Teme

River Teme 4 machines placing fill

The River Teme is a sensitive SSSI and SAC river and over 150 metres of severe bank erosion was threatening a National Grid pipeline.

Better Banks!

Lewes in Aug 2015

The Environment Agency are responsible for the river bank stability at Railway Lane, Lewes and recognising the integrity of the existing blockwork facing was deteriorating began to look into solutions to this challenge.

Foss Dyke Bank Stabilisation

Bank Stabilisation

A rise in pleasure boating on the Foss resulted in severe boat wash. Monitoring revealed that the rate of bank erosion was up to 2.5 metres in a year over a 2km stretch.

Pewsey Rail Embankment

Soil Nailed 45 Degree Slope With Cellular Soil System

A rail embankment had slipped and was reinstated with soil nails providing geotechnical stability. Birse created working platforms with imported stone and then used a soil cell system to retain about 150mm depth of soil on slopes up to 43 degrees.

Twycross Zoo Wetlands

Established wetlands at Twycross

As Principle contractor, Salix constructed a 3 hectare wetland system to provide waste water treatment and habitat creation. 18 integrated ponds, wet grassland, reedbeds and ditches were constructed for Twycross Zoo.

Pembroke Commons

Pembroke Commons revegetion river restoration

1 km of new and existing channel was enhanced using bioengineering techniques as part of a flood protection project in the centre of historic Pembroke in West Wales.

River Ebbw Bank Stabilisation

River restoration

Salix worked with consulting geotechnical engineers to provide design and build proposals to stabilise over 800 metres of steep riverbank composed of highly erodible colliery shale.

River Gwenfro

Fully Established Bioengineering Solution Replacing Gabion Design

A private developer had back gardens adjacent to a river that when in flood created severe scour issues. Initial river modelling indicated flow velocities in excess of 3.5m/sec.

River Pipeline Crossing

Salix were invited to submit a bioengineering solution to solve an erosion issue at a pipeline crossing in West Wales. The solution used a combination of locally harvested willow and Rock Rolls to provide a stable revetment in this cobble bed river.

Calverton Tip Drainage

Calveton tip drainage

Colliery shale and sandy soils have one thing in common; both are highly susceptible to erosion by flowing water. Both soil types were present on site.

Waverley Colliery Reclamation

C350

A large drainage channel designed to take flows of up to 3m/sec was created to take runoff water from a 741 acre site at Waverley, one of Europe’s biggest collieries.

Pre-filled Rock Roll

Rock rolls provide an instant flexible solution to many scour problems

Rock Rolls are a robust and permanent revetment for use around reservoirs, shorelines, lake edges, streams and river banks. They are cost-effective revetments that are suitable alternatives to rock rip rap and gabions in many scour applications.

Pre-filled Rock Mattresses

Rock Mattress installed Lockwood Reservoir with built in lifting strops

Rock Mattresses are a robust and permanent revetment for use around reservoirs, shorelines, lake edges, streams and river banks. They are cost-effective revetments that are suitable alternatives to rock rip rap and gabions…

Locke Park Lake

Locke Park Lake

Locke Park Lake had become silted to the point that it could no longer be safely used for boating. Salix were employed as main contractor to de-silt the lake…

Kelham Island Goit

Kelham Goit

Salix were contracted by Mansell construction to dredge the contaminated Goit forming Kelham Island and working closely with ecologists ECUS to create marginal habitat.

Treboeth Cobble Channel

Treboeth cobble channel

A new development had slope stability issues due to an adjacent cobble bed watercourse badly eroding the soils and downcutting the bed within the channel.

Railway Lane, Lewes

Before work commenced railway line Lewes

The integrity of the existing blockwork facing was deteriorating as a result of the tidal inundation and draw-down cycles together with areas of groundwater seepages emanating from the slope profile.

River Teme Restoration

River Teme Restoration

The River Teme is a sensitive SSSI and SAC river and over 150 metres of severe bank erosion was threatening a National Grid pipeline.