UNTIL you actually step on site, it is impossible to grasp the size of the engineering work which is being carried out at Eller Beck and Waller Hill Beck - the two largest of five projects taking place to help protect the town from flooding.

At both locations, Galliford Black & Veatch, which has the contract to carry out the work, is building two dams to control the flow of the becks as they make their way down into Skipton town centre.

During severe storm events, these two waterways contribute significantly to flooding which has engulfed parts of Skipton in recent years.

It has been estimated that the cost of a major flood in the town would run into millions of pounds, with hundreds of homes and businesses at risk.

Economic damage alone could add up to £15 million and there could also be a significant threat to human life by a rapid inundation.

Last winter was bad enough, with a number of homes and businesses being flooded in Skipton on Boxing Day - and other areas narrowly escaping the flood waters.

Hence, major work is being carried out in and above the town. It has seen thousands of tons of earth and clay being shifted and relocated, rivers temporarily redirected and aquatic life rescued, all as part of the £13 million cost of the works due to be completed later this year.

At the golf course site of Eller Beck, 40 to 50 brown trout, the same number of bullheads and stone loach and, remarkably, ten lampreys were removed and returned to the watercourse away from the works. Eel-like lampreys have been making a comeback in British rivers in recent years.

At the same location, an otter shelf has been constructed inside the concrete culvert which allows the animal safe passage. Before work began, a biodiversity survey was carried out and otter droppings were discovered nearby, providing evidence that the animals are in the area.

Features that break up the speed of the water flow have also been installed inside the concrete culvert to help provide safe passage for fish through the new structure.

The success of the project has also depended on the co-operation of Skipton Golf Club which has had to relocate two of its greens to accommodate the Eller beck dam.

Similarly, at the Waller Hill beck site, the Environment Agency has been working with the landowners, the Stapleton family, to progress the scheme.

Guiding the work to fruition are EA project manager Jenny Cooke, project executive Will Benedikz, and David Neeve, senior dam engineer for the construction firm Arup.

They are overseeing the construction of two storage dams upstream of Skipton on Eller Beck and Waller Hill Beck which have a combined capacity of 130 million gallons. In the town centre, about 300 metres of existing flood defence walls are being raised at Ginnel Mews behind Newmarket Street, new walls are being built at Devonshire Place, and improvement works at Spindle Mill. Outside Morrisons supermarket and B&M store in Broughton Road, new and raised flood walls are being constructed along the open section of Eller Beck.

When finished, the work is expected to provide a significantly improved standard of flood protection to 378 homes and at least 165 businesses as well as enabling economic growth and development in Skipton with the potential to create 500 jobs.

"The aim of the work at the two dam sites is to control the flow of water of each beck as they enter and pass through the town,” said Will.

"Eller Beck and Waller Hill Beck often swell very quickly after heavy rain and these schemes aim to control that flow and stop it flooding the town.

"The floodwaters will be held back and stored in the reservoirs created by the dams and released slowly. It will prevent the flash flooding which Skipton is susceptible to.”

He paid thanks to the landowners for their co-operation. "We had few options where to place the dam at Skipton Golf Club and, essentially, it meant encroaching on the 16th and 17th holes.

"We fully appreciate how much we have disturbed the club members and also the Stapleton family at Skibeden Farm but we are very grateful for their cooperation," he said.

Arup’s David Neeve explained how the flood reduction scheme works. It is based on the construction of concrete culverts passing under the earth dams which are designed to control the flow of the waterways. Each has a device, broadly similar to the function of a sluice gate.

The floodwaters are held back by the dam and in high floods will form a lake which will be released steadily. If the water levels threaten to top the dam - not expected to happen more than once a century - the floodwaters will be released down a weir to enter the river lower down.

When the work is finally over at both sites, the areas will be landscaped and most of the construction will be out of sight. Only in severe, stormy weather when the dams come into their own will passers-by see the reservoirs backing up behind the dams.