Houseboat 'lost' in Pillings Marina Flood

[Alan de Enfield]

From NBW :

 

'Boat' owners lose their boat as not warned of river rise

Published: Thursday, 12 March 2020

More victims of the flooding Soar, as couple lose their 'boat' at Pillings Lock Marina.

James and and Lorraine Warren have lived on the houseboat at the marina a number of years and told the BBC that they have been left homeless when it tipped over caused by the rising flood on the Soar when the river rose sharply.

Forced to flee

With the flood gates open the level rose and with the houseboat being securely tied, it started to tip over, with  Lorraine and her dog forced to flee.

It was the rising level of water into the marina that caused it to capsize, though the people in charge of the marina that is situated on the canal below the flood lock, told they 'had no prior warning' the water levels would rise. (Picture by courtesy of the BBC.)

Flood gates opened

But Canal & River Trust told the BBC that the paddles had been opened a week and flood boards updated before the houseboat started to capsize. 

In which case the owners should have been well aware of a possible rise in the water level as the marina has been in operation for some 20 years.

[Richard T]

This happened some weeks ago NBW are way behind the times. I understand that the couple were not insured.

[David Mack]

Has Pillings really been there for 20 Years? It seems like only yesterday they were in a big dispute about their connection.

[magnetman]

I had a mooring at Bishop Meadow in Loughborough and went boating in the local area in 2003 and it wasn't there then. Miller's bridge I think that was where they built it at it near Quorn. definitely after 2003. 

Edited March 12, 2020 by magnetman

[matty40s]

The clubhouse was finished in about late 2007, the marina was open a  couple of years before that.

[blackrose]

Those look like floating pontoons, but given what happened I guess not?

[matty40s]

The marina prides itself as being a flood free marina on the Soar.?

That floating shed didn't do that in 2012 when the diesel pontoon upended so it was tied correctly then.

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, blackrose said:

Those look like floating pontoons, but given what happened I guess not?

And, if they are non-floating I guess "the houseboat being securely tied" was the wrong thing to do.

 

Having lived there for a number of years and knowing the vagaries of the River (going into flood when someone flushes the toilet) they'd realise how to moor, it is sad when folks come to realise that "its not always better by water".

[Nut]

can that not be salvaged and become liveable in again?

[Arthur Marshall]

2 hours ago, Nut said:

can that not be salvaged and become liveable in again?

You'd have thought so. It doesn't look like the actual structure is damaged, so no worse than a flooded house, probable easier to dry out. You do wonder why, as they were in it at the time, they didn't loosen the ropes when they felt it start to tip. Surely if they've been on the Soar that long they must have been aware it goes up and down a few inches every now and then, or do Pillings have some kind of levelling control?

[Tracy D'arth]

Sad that a home is destroyed but it looks salvageable.

A constructive sinking for crowd funding appeal? Or am I too suspicious?

Would you not go out and cut a rope in that situation? Especially if not insured, you would make every effort to ameliorate a disaster as the insurance company would expect you to do as well.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

29 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Surely if they've been on the Soar that long they must have been aware it goes up and down a few inches every now and then, or do Pillings have some kind of levelling control?

It is on the canal section of the navigation through Loughborough, a short distance from the eponymous Pillings Lock. This is a flood lock, left open when the Soar is low, used as a lock in higher, but navigable conditions and chained closed in high. The responsibility for doing this is down to CaRT. The lock is by a weir on the river and there is also an Environment Agency remote operated sluice gate. When this opens a huge flow rate can be dumped through which gives some protection to Barrow, while moving the problem further down stream towards the Trent. When I moored there a good many years ago the level in the marina never seemed to budge, though it was built throughout with floating pontoons. There was some fairly impressive flooding by the Soar in that time. Since then, on a couple of occasions, the marina levels have flooded and on some of these the pontoons haven't risen and fallen as expected in some parts of the marina.

The navigable Loughborough bit getting flooded could be down to miscommunication between CaRT and the EA over river levels and what EA plan to do with the sluices, or just poor planning by CaRT, or just too much water overwhelming the weir, sluice and flood lock. If one of the pontoons doesn't rise as designed when the marina floods, then you can get what you've seen here. People get complacent since the level is usually well controlled and the pontoons apparently impervious to flooding.

Jen

[Tracy D'arth]

2 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

It is on the canal section of the navigation through Loughborough, a short distance from the eponymous Pillings Lock. This is a flood lock, left open when the Soar is low, used as a lock in higher, but navigable conditions and chained closed in high. The responsibility for doing this is down to CaRT. The lock is by a weir on the river and there is also an Environment Agency remote operated sluice gate. When this opens a huge flow rate can be dumped through which gives some protection to Barrow, while moving the problem further down stream towards the Trent. When I moored there a good many years ago the level in the marina never seemed to budge, though it was built throughout with floating pontoons. There was some fairly impressive flooding by the Soar in that time. Since then, on a couple of occasions, the marina levels have flooded and on some of these the pontoons haven't risen and fallen as expected in some parts of the marina.

The navigable Loughborough bit getting flooded could be down to miscommunication between CaRT and the EA over river levels and what EA plan to do with the sluices, or just poor planning by CaRT, or just too much water overwhelming the weir, sluice and flood lock. If one of the pontoons doesn't rise as designed when the marina floods, then you can get what you've seen here. People get complacent since the level is usually well controlled and the pontoons apparently impervious to flooding.

Jen

A very understandable probability and if so very unfortunate too. Thanks for the clarification Jen.

[ditchcrawler]

14 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

And, if they are non-floating I guess "the houseboat being securely tied" was the wrong thing to do.

 

Having lived there for a number of years and knowing the vagaries of the River (going into flood when someone flushes the toilet) they'd realise how to moor, it is sad when folks come to realise that "its not always better by water".

But you are a boater, not someone living in a houseboat ie. floating cottage

[Alan de Enfield]

Just now, ditchcrawler said:

But you are a boater, not someone living in a houseboat ie. floating cottage

Even as a 'floating flat' owner surely you'd realise that as things started to tilt it wasn't normal & you needed to take some action.

[Mike Todd]

3 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

A very understandable probability and if so very unfortunate too. Thanks for the clarification Jen.

The Loughborough Cut is a 'summit' as the level goes down at Pillings and Loughborough Locks. Upstream there are two locks (Loughborough and Bishops Meadow) to the river level and downstream only the Pillings Flood Lock. It must have been quite some flood to lift Pillings Marina significantly.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

23 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

The Loughborough Cut is a 'summit' as the level goes down at Pillings and Loughborough Locks. Upstream there are two locks (Loughborough and Bishops Meadow) to the river level and downstream only the Pillings Flood Lock. It must have been quite some flood to lift Pillings Marina significantly.

It isn't a summit level. It is either level with, or below the level of the Soar upstream from Pillings flood lock. See the google screen shot and you can see from the direction of the lock gate mitres which side the higher water is expected. You can also see the weir and the EA sluice gates. The marina is in the next field to the top left, so close to all this. Further north, the Loughborough cut drops through the Loughborough and Bishops Maadow locks to rejoin the Soar. Going north is heading downhill on the Soar, which always confused me!

 

Jen

Edited March 13, 2020 by Jen-in-Wellies

[Detling]

If tied to a floating jetty that got stuck and didn't rise as it should, surely the person to blame is the owner of that jetty. Oh but that would be Pillings lock marina, who have very sloping shoulders to ensure no crud sticks.

[TheBiscuits]

39 minutes ago, Detling said:

If tied to a floating jetty that got stuck and didn't rise as it should, surely the 

right thing to do is free it up so it does rise before your home sinks. 

 

Or untie or cut free said floating home before it heels over far enough to flood and sink.

 

 

[matty40s]

6 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

The Loughborough Cut is a 'summit' as the level goes down at Pillings and Loughborough Locks. Upstream there are two locks (Loughborough and Bishops Meadow) to the river level and downstream only the Pillings Flood Lock. It must have been quite some flood to lift Pillings Marina significantly.

Upstream is Barrow Deep,  you have the river Soar flowing the wrong way........which indeed would have been a massive flood event not yet seen.

[matty40s]

The flood lock has been closed since October, CRT do usually keep a paddle open both ends of the lock as the short bottom pound between Loughborough Lock and Bishops Meadow lock tends to drain quite quickly(overnight)if there isnt a flow through the section.

The river obviously rose with the rainfall, but would not overcome the flood lock, and indeed, the flood lock would not be "open" as suggested in the article. 

If no-one out of 250 moorers(probably half of which live there at an informed guess) is prepared to get out of bed and shut a paddle on a lock less than 300 yards away when they realise that the cut is rising, then it's no wonder that a pontoon residence tied too tightly tilted and took on water.

 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

11 hours ago, matty40s said:

The flood lock has been closed since October, CRT do usually keep a paddle open both ends of the lock as the short bottom pound between Loughborough Lock and Bishops Meadow lock tends to drain quite quickly(overnight)if there isnt a flow through the section.

The river obviously rose with the rainfall, but would not overcome the flood lock, and indeed, the flood lock would not be "open" as suggested in the article. 

If no-one out of 250 moorers(probably half of which live there at an informed guess) is prepared to get out of bed and shut a paddle on a lock less than 300 yards away when they realise that the cut is rising, then it's no wonder that a pontoon residence tied too tightly tilted and took on water.

 

The marina is on the off side of the Loughborough cut. The flood lock also has a foot bridge which brings the tow path from the east bank on the Loughborough cut to the west bank of the Soar up to the bridge at Barrow and the next canal cut from Deep Lock. It is actually a long walk to get to the flood lock from the marina, a lot more than the 300 yards as the crow flies, or a boat swims. Getting to the river side tow path means going to the marina entrance, along the marina road a short distance, then crossing a field. That tow path is often underwater when the Soar is high. Getting to the Loughborough cut tow path means another long muddy walk, this time north from the marina entrance till you can get to a bridge over the canal, then back down to the lock. Not surprised that no one went to deal with the paddles given this and that most of the moorers would barely have noticed a flood starting as their pontoons rose with their boats.

 

Jen

[Mike Todd]

11 hours ago, matty40s said:

Upstream is Barrow Deep,  you have the river Soar flowing the wrong way........which indeed would have been a massive flood event not yet seen.

I did put summit in quotes as I was trying to suggest that when the flood lock is closed then the water from the cut should drain down Loughborough and BM locks - or have I still misunderstood the directions?

[Richard T]

From what I've heard the boat partially sank in the night- the owners woke to find it listing by which time it was too late. In a big floodthe gates at Pillings lock can be overtopped. It happened in 2012 when anaothe boat sank in Pillings marina. The recent flood was not quite as high as the 2012 one.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

31 minutes ago, Richard T said:

From what I've heard the boat partially sank in the night- the owners woke to find it listing by which time it was too late. In a big floodthe gates at Pillings lock can be overtopped. It happened in 2012 when anaothe boat sank in Pillings marina. The recent flood was not quite as high as the 2012 one.

Interesting as well that the vessels that sank in both 2012 and 2020 were moored on sections of pontoon that are close to and parallel to the edge of the basin. In the 2012 case it seems that these pontoons didn't rise properly as the water level went up, dragging the boat down to its doom. Something similar looks to have happened to the houseboat. The floating pontoons out across the middle of the marina basin worked as expected and all those boats were fine. There may be a problem with the design of the pontoons running round the edge of the marina.

Jen

Edited March 14, 2020 by Jen-in-Wellies