A421 flooding in Bedfordshire continues with 24 million litres of water already removed
The amount equates to the quantity found in 10 Olympic size swimming pools
The A421 in Bedfordshire remains closed in both directions, over a week on since its initial closure due to flooding.
More than 24 million litres has now been removed from the area near to Marston Moretaine, an amount which equals 10 Olympic sized swimming pools full.
It follows record rainfall during September, with the road closed between A6 at Bedford and M1 junction 13 near Brogborough and Marston Moretaine.
The road was closed on Sunday September 22nd.
Martin Fellows, Regional Director for National Highways in the East of England, said:
“We are taking every possible measure we can to tackle this unprecedented situation. That includes sourcing the most effective and advanced pumping equipment we can.
“The record rainfall this part of the country is continuing to experience is making a what is a difficult situation extremely challenging but let me reassure people our work will continue as all our effort and resources are focused on resolving this and getting the road open as soon as it is safe to do so.
“The progress we have made over the last week is very clear but the extent of the rainfall and runoff from the surrounding area is making this a real challenge. We will continue to do all we can but trying to put a timeline to this – when we do not yet know the condition of the road under the floodwater – is very difficult and I expect our work here will continue for the rest of this week as a minimum.
“As we are talking about removing very significant volumes of water and dispersing it in a responsible manner that does not add to the already saturated ground conditions, I think it’s important that people understand that we work very closely with our partners in the Bedfordshire Local Resilience Forum (BLRF) to ensure our work in this area continues to be safe and appropriate.”
Specialist pumps are working at the site to remove the water, with expectations for the road closure to continue to the end of the week "as a minimum".
A month of rainfall fell in under 48 hours during the flooding's first occurrence on September 22nd, leading to the closure.
An investigation to road damage will be carried out once the flood water has been removed.