A MULTI-MILLION flood defence scheme in Blackburn is in the running for a prestigious civil engineering award.

The £3.3million defence project at ‘The Wrangling’ has been nominated for the 2017 North West Civil Engineering Awards in the ‘Medium Project Award’ category.

The winners will be announced at a black-tie awards dinner at the Blackpool Hilton Hotel on Friday, March 10 and bosses behind the flood defence scheme that was completed in August will be hoping to pick up a prize.

Blackburn with Darwen Council regeneration boss Cllr Phil Riley said the nomination was great news for the area.

He said: “The Wrangling project has been a great one for the town.

“The total spending is in excess of £20million in that area and for them to be in the running for an award shows that it must be doing a good job.

“It’s just great news for everyone associated with the scheme.”

Plans were made for the defence scheme on a kilometre-long stretch of the River Blakewater near Sumner Street due to the historic flood risk.

The project involved building and refurbishing flood walls and flood gates plus individual property measures including flood proofing windows and doors.

The project also looked to maximise the benefits to the local economy, so people from the area provided at least half the workforce for the project. An average of 20 people and four out of the seven main subcontractors were local to the area.

Darrell Matthews, North West regional director of the institution of civil engineers, said: “Flood defence work is an increasingly important aspect of civil engineering, and this project is a great example of how this work helps protect properties and bring peace of mind to local people – in this case helping protect 66 homes and 131 businesses in Blackburn against flooding.

“Our annual awards help showcase some of the fantastic civil engineering that’s happening across the North West.”

The Wrangling project is one of 13 nominations in its category.

The principal designer for the Wrangling Flood Risk Management Scheme was Chester-based Black and Veatch, and the principal contractor was VBA Ltd of Preston.