{"id":379959,"date":"2026-01-20T08:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/379959\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T08:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:48:11","slug":"bridgwater-tidal-barrier-to-be-10m-shorter-to-reduce-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/379959\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridgwater Tidal Barrier to be 10m shorter to reduce costs"},"content":{"rendered":"

A proposed tidal barrier is to be made 32ft (10m) shorter to reduce costs following a review.<\/p>\n

The Environment Agency says the structure in Bridgwater, Somerset, will now be 49ft (15m) high but still provide the same level of flood protection for almost 13,000 homes and businesses.<\/p>\n

Somerset Council leader Bill Revans said: ” We welcome this responsible approach, which maintains flood protection while ensuring the Scheme remains affordable and on track.” <\/p>\n

The Environment Agency said the changes will allow the use of more modern methods of technology and construction which will save money. <\/p>\n

Ross Barton, the Project Director for the Bridgwater Tidal Barrier said the review “confirms we can deliver the same high level of flood protection in a more efficient and affordable way, while keeping construction moving and creating a lasting benefit for communities”. <\/p>\n

The \u00a3249m barrier to protect thousands of homes and businesses in Somerset from flooding was given government approval<\/a> in September 2024. <\/p>\n

Enabling work began in early 2023 and the Environment Agency said “significant progress” has been made on the construction of the barrier substructure and defences downstream. <\/p>\n

The Environment Agency said once the project review is completed it will reveal further details about the final cost and timescale of the scheme.<\/p>\n

The public can view the revised designs and talk to experts about the project at drop-in sessions at Chilton Trinity Village Hall and the Angel Place Shopping Centre from 19 January.<\/p>\n

Building work is anticipated to continue for another five to six years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A proposed tidal barrier is to be made 32ft (10m) shorter to reduce costs following a review. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-379959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}