The valley at Redbridge is naturally narrow and this, coupled with the obstruction
to water flows and loss of floodplain due to man-
In 2007, a serious pinchpoint on Hinksey Stream, at Towles Mill, Redbridge, was removed by the Environment Agency. In the summer of 2008 they cleared the watercourses of vegetation and carried out desilting at Redbridge. There remained however three principal pinchpoints (see map) restricting the conveyance of water at Redbridge at the southern end of the western Oxford floodplain.OFA highlighted these to the Environment Agency and Network Rail and have worked with them to come up with solutions. The present status is described below.
Point 1 on the map is a large (60 ft) culvert, known as Munday's underbridge, under the railway and the channel known as Hinksey Drain leading to it. There is obstruction to flow here from: channel restriction due to poor maintenance and plant growth; a wall built across the channel; a 90 cm road drain pipe jutting into the channel; soil and plant growth filling in half the culvert; severe silting under the culvert; narrowing of the channel beyond, before it connects to Hinksey Stream, due to lack of maintenance.
The Environment Agency carried out improvement works here in April 2009. However there is much more that could and should be done to allow this very important culvert to work at full capacity.
Point 2 is a redundant level crossing bridge, which restricts flow.
Network Rail removed the bridge in January 2010.
Point 3 is a roadway that allows access to the railway track and sidings where gravel is stored in bulk. The road is raised above the floodplain but the culverts provided beneath the road are totally inadequate for the volume of water present during flood conditions.
Large flood culverts were installed by the EA in November 2009.
