Following flood events in Rotherham town centre in 2007 and 2019, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) identified the need to upgrade the flood defences and canal barrier along 5km of the River Don. This led to the development of the £17m Rotherham to Kilnhurst Flood Alleviation Scheme to reduce the risk of the River Don overtopping into the canal and flooding Rotherham town centre and the Central Railway Station.
Jacksons Civil Engineering Group was commissioned to complete the central part of the scheme on Forge Island, which consists of installing a new multi-million-pound canal barrier – a guillotine style gate leaf within an architectural statement superstructure and WM Plant Hire were employed to support these works with their CASE CX210 15.5m long reach, dredging material from the canal around the structure.