Flooding on road

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32678, 6 August 1971, Page 10

Flooding on road

Water several inches deep from a flooded drain caused about six cars to stall at the corner of Bexley Road and Waitaki Street early last evening. At one stage the water covered the whole road at the comer. Several of those stranded were local residents who had to push their cars home. No water entered any of the neighbouring properties. The flooding was caused when a flap valve on the drain was blocked during a high tide, the chief engineer of the Christchurch Drainage Board (Mr P. J. McWilliam) said. Flooding had occurred periodically over a number of years but there was no way to prevent it without a man watching for blockages 24 hours a day. Drainage board designers were working on a proposal to build a pumping station near the outlet of the drain, said Mr McWilliam. Land had already been acquired for the purpose.