ENGINEERS battling to get flood defences in place by November have come up with a green scheme to tackle tricky terrain.

Their innovative approach to the Ryedale flood defence work has caught the eye of judges in a national environment competition.

The workers in Malton and Norton have drafted in a new system to fix sheet metal piling in place, ensuring the scheme will be watertight by November.

Interserve project manager John MacDonald said they had been continually modifying and redesigning plans as they encountered difficult sections of ground.

The process, known as 'screwfast piling', is being used where the riverbank is so weak that methods used on other sections of the £6.5m scheme would be impractical.

Mr MacDonald said: "In certain areas we cannot use the heavy piling machine as the riverbank is too weak to withstand the weight.

"It means we can use smaller and lighter machinery on site, and in the case of the property near Derwent Surgery, cause much less disruption and damage to the householder's garden."

The technique uses huge pairs of screw piles in each section which are twisted into the ground using modern technology.

But Di Keal, from Interserve, said the technique was based upon a process originally used by the Victorians. "Apparently it's a method they used to use for constructing bridges and so on," she said.

"Now we are pioneering this technique using high-powered hydraulic equipment instead of man power."

She added: "We are looking for ways to make sure this is finished on time, and we have looked to new methods to speed that process up."

The company has now been nominated for a top national award for the environmental work.

The project has been shortlisted by the Green Apple Awards 2002 for environmentally-sound construction practices, and the enhancements to the landscape which have been created as work progresses.

Manager Ken Neill said the contractors had ensured that a range of features had been built into the sites to recreate wildlife habitats.

"We are making new ponds and backwaters, where fish can find refuge when the river is in flood, on the Norton Ings site, and wherever we have had to fell trees we are replacing each one removed with five new ones," he said.

Overall winners of the awards will be announced at the beginning of November.

Updated: 12:12 Tuesday, September 17, 2002