After more than 150 years of impoundment, replacing a 3-m-high weir at Bowston on the River Kent in Cumbria with a lower-elevation rock ramp structure has been completed
The constructed design promotes natural river processes through this section of the Kent (a designated Special Area of Conservation) and offers significant improvements to the continuity of physical processes, local biodiversity and fish migration, as well as benefits to flood risk and navigation.
The scheme is the largest river barrier removal to have taken place in the UK in 2022. cbec led the development of the design and provided support to the client, South Cumbria Rivers Trust, and project partners throughout the design and construction phase. For more information on the project, see The Guardian’s article.
The Bowston Weir has also had nominations for the River Restoration Centre’s 2023 UK River Prize and the European Dam Removal Award 2023. Jeremy Wade from the television show ‘River Monsters’ also made a short film about the weir, which you can watch here.
