Working with Devon County Council and WSP to mitigate flood impacts on Devon's highways

Challenge

Heavy rainfall can cause flooding on roads in low-lying routes or through water run-off from adjacent land, and when sediment is washed onto the road by overland flows it can fill gullies, impacting their performance.

Council highways teams are responsible for the management of surface water drainage assets, but networks can be large and costly to maintain and repair.

Solution

Devon County Council has appointed Previsico to install connected water and silt level sensors in some of Devon's highways gullies with the aim of mitigating floods on major roads and monitoring sediment build-up.

Sensors have been installed in four locations across the county as part of this project, called the Devon Resilience Innovation Project (DRIP) Smart Gullies Trial.

WSP has been appointed by Devon County Council to plan, manage and evaluate the trial. The county council is using these sensors to gain a greater understanding of the potential benefits of flood detection and warning in order to inform gully cleaning schedules.

The trial is funded through the government's Flood and Coastal Risk Innovation Programme, and Previsico's appointment follows an invitation to tender.

Impact

This trial aims to see how technology can help reduce maintenance costs through the early warning system for flooding. It is intended to confirm if technology can improve the council's understanding of asset condition, facilitating proactive not reactive maintenance.

"We are delighted to be involved in this important project and look forward to helping DCC mitigate risk and impacts through instrumentation of their surface water drainage assets."

Dr Andrew Pledger, IoT Systems Manager, Previsico