The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016

Service crossings below the bed of a main river

3.—(1) The erection of a service crossing below the bed of a main river by directional drilling not involving an open cut technique.

(2) For the purposes of this paragraph, the specific conditions are—

(a) the service crossing is within 10° of perpendicular to the direction of flow in the main river,

(b) a distance is maintained—

(i) of no less than 1.5 metres from the bed of the main river to the top of the service crossing, and

(ii) at the same height above sea level between points that are 5 metres beyond the top of each bank of the main river,

(c) the distance from the launch and reception pits to the landward side of each bank of the main river is—

(i) 8 or more metres in the case of a non-tidal main river;

(ii) 16 or more metres in the case of a tidal main river;

(d) the service crossing does not pass through any bank, culvert, remote defence or river control works on the main river or through any sea defence,

(e) the service crossing is 50 or more metres upstream of any impoundment or artificially raised channel,

(f) permanent hazard markers are erected on both banks of the main river,

(g) all excavated material not re-used on the site of the works is removed from the floodplain,

(h) the works are not carried out in, or within 100 metres of, a water body in England that is part of a main river classified as of high morphological status by the Agency in accordance with the relevant directions, and

(i) the bed and banks of the main river are not disturbed by the works.