WET News

ALLIANCES 2019 29 Preston-based civil engineering firm VolkerStevin partnered with CH2M to form C2V+ in 2014, and the JV was one of four teams appointed to United Utilities' AMP6 Construction Delivery Partners framework. CH2M was acquired by Jacobs last year. As well as having a long and successful track record of working with United Utilities (UU), Jacobs-CH2M and VolkerStevin also work together in other sectors including flood defence, environmental and marine projects for clients such as the Environment Agency and the Ministry of Defence. With strategic design and operations offices located in Preston, Warrington, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, London, Glasgow, Krakow and Corvallis, C2V+ says it can draw on combined specialist water resources of over 1,000 employees, while the team's Preston office provides a strong operational base for the contract with United Utilities. Jacobs-CH2M brings to the partnership its design expertise in the engineering disciplines of process, civil engineering, hydraulics, structural, mechanical, electrical, ICA, geotechnical, environmental and architectural improvements, while VolkerStevin brings to the table its expertise in delivering complex multidisciplinary turnkey design and build programmes and individual projects, providing a combination of bespoke and modular solutions with whole-life added value front and centre. Major works being conducted by C2V+ include building two large storm- water storage tanks at Schola Green Wastewater Pumping Station as part of the Morecambe Catchment Strategy Project, which aims to reduce the number of spills into Morecambe Bay. An upgrade is also required at Morecambe Wastewater Treatment Works near the village of Middleton under the £70 million scheme, while a 7km sewer pipe will be laid between the two sites. Work started in 2017 and is anticipated to last until 2020. Another flagship piece of work is a stormwater storage project at Anchorsholme Park near Blackpool, which has involved the construction of an underground stormwater storage tank (around 30m deep and 30m in diameter) capable of holding approximately 12,000m3 of stormwater. The first phase of this project was completed in July 2016 at a cost of £14 million. The tank was also connected to the existing sewer network, which included new installation for the sewer and a control unit. The stated aims of C2V+ are to deliver long-term client and shareholder value by continually improving, working with and sharing its knowledge; to invest in its people and always operate responsibly and safely; and to identify and implement innovative solutions. The latter includes greater use of offsite manufacture, digital design and modular build, in keeping with UU's promotion of Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA). The United Utilities AMP6 contract comes with a possible extension to 2026, which would offer long-term support to the utility's recently published business plan for PR19. UU has a £3.8 billion investment plan across the 2015–20 regulatory period, which includes £250 million of spending on resilience projects above and beyond the scope of its regulatory contract, funded from anticipated net outperformance. Supplying 1.7 billion litres of treated clean water to customers across the North-West of England every day, United Utilities serves 3 million households and 200,000 businesses. Its area contains 400km of coastline and 7,000km of rivers, while its largest reservoir is Haweswater, which holds 84 billion litres. The utility's latest annual report said that regulatory capital investment in 2017/18, including £147 million of infrastructure renewals expenditure, was £816 million, including additional committed investment. This meant that about £2.4 billion had been invested in the first three years of the regulatory period. C2V+ CLIENT: United Utilities PARTNERS: Jacobs-CH2M and VolkerStevin CONTRACT: AMP6 design & construct framework TERM: Five years, with possible extension to 2026 ALLIANCES 2019: UNITED UTILITIES C2V+ builds on impressive track record The Morecambe Catchment Strategy Project aims to reduce the number of spills into Morecambe Bay

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