Kent Highways Gully Cleansing - video transcript
This video transcript is for the drainage video on our highway drainage systems page.
[Title card] Engineers in high-vis outfits are cleaning drains, with the title text 'gully cleansing - a Kent County Council video guide'.
[Narrator - Kathryn Lewis, Drainage and Flood Manager at Kent County Council is standing in a hard hat with a high-vis outfit on in front of the engineers. As she talks, the video cuts between multiple shots of the drainage engineers working, using machinery to cleanse the drains.]
"Kent County Council look after over a quarter of a million road drains. We clean and maintain the drains on a cyclical basis but this means we can make sure that they are cleansed and tested regularly.
This also means that we're about to provide a more efficient and cost-effective service providing better value for money for the people of Kent.
How often we clean drains depends on the type of road and whether or not the road is prone to flooding. Some drains are cleansed as often as once every three months where whereas others only need cleansing once every two years."
[Video shows the drainage engineers lifting a drain up from the road with two large steel rods. One engineer holds a large suction type rod coming from the lorry. He is pressing it into the drain to help with the cleanse.]
"Drains are cleansed using a large tanker like vehicle. It has a large broom arm that's able to remove the silt and debris from the drain and has a large tank of water."
[Video shows drainage engineers spraying white paint around drain.]
"This means we can test the drains once they've been cleansed, if there's a problem with the drains such as a blockage or a damaged cover then the crew mark the drain with paint and record the problem on a career report."
[Video shows drainage engineers spraying high pressure water hose into the blocked drain.]
"If the drain is blocked second crew of trailer at a later date and use high-pressure water jets to try and clear the blockage."
[A drainage engineer is shown feeding a camera cable into the drain to find the source of the blockage.]
"If it's not possible to CCTV Camera clear the obstruction from the pipe the pipe is checked using CCTV camera this allows us to determine what is causing the problem. Common problems include roots from nearby trees broken pipes that collapse due to old age or damage caused during work is carried out by others."
[Two crew members shown digging on the painted spot on the road to access the blocked pipe. One engineer is operating a jackhammer.]
[The camera comes back to Kathryn Lewis who continues talking directly to the camera.]
"Once we know why the drain isn't working or a pair crew dig down expose the pipe and carry out the works needed to fix the problem.
There are a number of ways you can help us keep Kent's drainage system working avoid tipping any cooking fats garden waste or building materials into the drains as this will cause them to become blocked and can do damage that is expensive to repair."
[A person is shown wearing gardening gloves clearing away twigs and leaves that are on a drain.]
"If it's safe to do so keep drain covers clear from litter autumn leaves and other debris every year we attend to flooding incidents that are the result of leaves or litter stopping water getting into the drain."
[A yellow sign attached to a streetlight is shown which reads "No parking. Gully cleansing".]
"Avoid parking on roads where we've displayed yellow no parking signs if we can't get access to the drain we can't clean it."
[The camera comes back to Kathryn Lewis who continues talking directly to the camera.]
"More information about how we maintain Kent highway drainage system visit our website Kent.gov.uk and search drainage."
[Black background with the text "Kent.gov.uk/highways. Keep up to date on what's happening on Kent's roads. Follow @Kenthigheays on twitter.]