Mackley will play a key role in the Government’s response to flooding incidents during winter 2016/17, as a result of Team Van Oord (TVO) securing a new contract covering three regions across the south of England.
Under the new contract, TVO is now the lead supplier to provide ‘incident response resources’ to the Environment Agency operation teams in Wessex, Solent and South Downs (Sussex, Hampshire & Isle of Wight) and West Thames (Surrey, Buckinghamshire & Berkshire).
The contract will also see TVO provide secondary response in the Kent and South London, Devon and Cornwall, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcs and Gloucestershire areas.
The flooding during the winter of 2013/14 highlighted a need to increase the EA’s operational response capacity during significant, long or major flood incidents.
To meet this increased need for support, the EA’s Water and Environment Management Framework (WEM) suppliers, including TVO, will assist EA teams in the deployment of temporary flood barriers before, during and after a flood incident.
The National Flood Resilience Review, published in September 2016 by the Department for Environment, included plans for improved rain and flood modelling, a significant increase in new temporary flood defenses and greater protection to infrastructure in order to make the nation ‘better prepared and more resilient’ to flooding.