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Paved and concreted industrial /residential areas have been identified as a major factor in flash flooding from heavy downpours, the run off of water into drains carries all before it and frequently block culverts and small drains.

The debris can include tree branches, cut vegetation from bank mowing and industrial packaging, all of which can obstruct culvert entrances and gravity outfall weed screens thereby quickly flooding service roads and parking areas.

Such was the potential at Boating Dyke, Thorne, near Doncaster. A single one meter diameter culvert is protected by a weedscreen but the weedscreen was ‘open’ to risks of blockage.  JBA Consulting, Clerk and Engineer to Black Water Drain Drainage Board talked to weedscreen cleaner specialists C W Engineering who realised the restricted space above the culvert (approx 5m x 5m) was  far too small for a traditional beam mounted cleaner but could be serviced by a single legged ‘Snipe’ model with 90 degrees pivot between cleaning the screen and depositing the debris.

So compact is the Snipe design that it has also been possible to install the control panel on a concrete plinth within the small enclosure.

Ultrasonic water level sensors continually monitor the water levels in front of and behind the culvert screen to maintain a 100mm (4”) water level tolerance. If this is exceeded the weedscreen cleaner automatically starts up and removes detritus until the water levels are once more within tolerance and correct water flow re-established.  The weedscreen cleaner has also been pre-set to clean the screen daily.

The Snipe is fitted with a 250 kilo load capacity grab head which shares many common components with C W’s standard weedscreen cleaners so maintenance in the busy winter period poses no real problems.

The control panel is fully equipped with telemetry relaying information to the central control room which monitors fault warnings and stop/ start cycles. These functions can be expanded to enable remote stop/ start cycles from the control room if required.

Urban floods in recent years have put small drains and culverts in the spotlight and it is now accepted that without automatic screen cleaning these represent potential weaknesses within a flood prevention plan.

“We have the perfect solution in the Snipe”, says CW Engineering’s Richard Dye. “A compact cleaning system that can fit into restricted areas and provide safe protection against blockages. The industry knows CW is a company that is happy to design bespoke systems to go where standard kit simply won’t fit.  As a British manufacturer we can guarantee rapid response to any service needs and, currently, highly competitive prices compared to suppliers who manufacture within the Euro zone”.