Bubble barrier protection for weir removal in river

The curtain on the Loughor was trialled in Storm Agnes, which meant the river was full, making the conditions challenging, however, the curtains performed the task they were implemented for to limit the movement downstream of disturbed silt and sediment arising from the removal of the weir, and to reduce silt pollution and smothering of in-stream gravels/habitats as well as increasing the oxygen levels in the water.

The West Wales Rivers Trust tried to achieve 2 lines of Bubble Tubing across the width of the river – but due to the high flows during the storm, it was difficult to get the tubing to spread out in a line and it ended up being a series of upstream facing curves. However, the bubbles still created a barrier to the silt, preventing much of it from being transported downstream.

Even in the challenging conditions, it was obvious to the Trust that the spread of the micro-bubbles within the water column would have increased the oxygen levels within the water which would have been beneficial to any fish or other organisms present at the time.