No solution
In fact, it is the construction of the new flood defences that has caused this catastrophe for homeowners.
Anyone, never mind a qualified engineer, could tell you that if you reduce the width of a river by half then the water is going to flow faster and rise much quicker and higher when the course is in spate. The resulting breach was, therefore, foreseeable.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdOn more than one occasion during the works from Stockbridge to Canonmills, workmen have hurriedly ceased operations because of the water’s rapid rise.
At the same time, their heavy machines moving along the temporary road (reducing by half the width of the Water of Leith), have seen their caterpillar tracks half or fully submerged.
Knowing these conditions, the temporary safety measures should have been made far more robust.
Leslie Hodgson
St Stephen Place
Edinburgh