Minister Richardson (centre in orange shirt) with environment officials and workers on the project.
ANGUILLA--Minister of Infrastructure Curtis Richardson and officials of the Department of Environment visited the flood project in Sandy Ground. Richardson said the Government is grateful for the support of Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), as well as Global Climate change Alliance, in providing the funding for the project.
“Thankfully we have a team of dedicated public servants, who capitalised on the opportunity and ensured that Anguilla received funding to improve the governance framework for land use, and to undertake the construction of the Floodgate mechanism at Sandy Ground,” he said.
The project became necessary because of the high levels of water in Road Bay Pond after heavy rain that causes flooding to back yards in Sandy Ground. High levels of water also make it difficult to flush toilets. Previously, the channel from the pond was opened using a backhoe, but there is no current way of monitoring this condition. There will be a concrete weir to allow for the overtopping of the drainage channel in the event of a flood. The weir will also house non-return valves and a sluice gate, both of which will be used to control the flow of water during normal rain events. There will be three two-foot diameter non-return flap valves that will only open when the level of water on the pond side is greater than the level on the sea side without allowing water to enter the pond from the sea. The sluice gate is entirely automatic, but can be opened manually if necessary or if sea water is needed in the pond. Large boulders imported from St. Maarten are to be placed against the south side of the channel and on either side of the weir.
The project started on February 20, and should be completed by August. The budget is approximately US $480,000. The contractor is Windward Roads, and Anguilla Roads with FDL will be the consulting firm.
Installation of floodgate at Sandy Ground.
