Water & Wastewater Treatment

www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | APRIL 2014 | 33 Industry leaders sioning, stakeholder consultation and start-up of the new tunnel network. The Thames Tideway Tunnel which will link up with the already constructed Lee Tunnel will be 7m wide and will run up to 80m below street level, below six tube lines and existing utilities. The programme includes constructing numerous collection and diversion facilities, a large under- ground pumping station, and a major upgrade at Beckton sewage treatment works. Heatley said, "This is a huge project dealing with sewage disclosures into the Thames. It addresses the quality of the water in the Thames and will divert raw sewage from Central London, stopping it ‚ owing into the river. "It is a huge infrastructure project which will improve the quality of water in the Thames." The scheme has parallels with the award win- ning Blue Plains project in Columbia in the US - although the Thames tunnel will be more than three times the length. The Blue Plains project involved a 7.3km long 7m diameter combined sewer over‚ ow tunnel which was created clean up sewer over‚ ows in the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. Heatley says insights learned from Blue Plains will be shared with engineers and planners work- ing on the Thames Tideway. "This sort of expertise is being exported to other projects. That is one of the ways in which the synergy between Halcrow and CH2M Hill can be an advantage." Gareth Heatley's wide expertise in ‚ ood man- agement programmes will help with another of CH2M Hill's ongoing projects - which is to advise on updating ‚ ood defences in England. Flood management In the a' ermath of the ‚ oods which happened this year CH2M Hill is currently carrying out a major review of ‚ ood defences in England on behalf of the Environment Agency. "There have been some dramatic water events recently and we are currently advising the Environment Agency on managing its assets." Ex- amining what went wrong this winter will enable engineers CH2M Hill to identify the best way to manage existing assets and to work out what sort of modernisation needs to occur to prevent more catastrophic ‚ oods. As part of Broadland Environmental Services, the company has already been involved over the last ten years in improving 225km of ‚ ood defences to protect 1,700 properties and an envi- ronmentally sensitive area of 30,000 hectares. The company is currently working with the Environment Agency to look at new ‚ ood defence systems for the ‚ ood prone towns of Ipswich in Su• olk and Boston in Lincolnshire. One of the challenges facing the business over the next few years will be to changes in the EU laws on procurement - which will require engineering companies to demonstrate the economic bene— ts of any major infrastructure changes. "The water industry in the UK and Eu- rope continues to operate in a highly competitive environment and o' en involves long and detailed procurement processes," Heatley observes. "Cur- rently this focuses on cost rather than overall value. With changes in EU procurement law mov- ing towards the 'most economically advantageous tender' (MEAT) as opposed to just the lowest cost, it will be increasingly important to consider how we address such issues to ensure that we, and the wider industry, deliver the best possible services with the widest array of bene— ts. "One of the biggest challenges I think that faces our sector is how companies deliver the best overall value as opposed to just what can be done at the cheapest price. At CH2M Hill, we work todeliver best whole life cost and tolink in wider bene— ts when we manage projects, for example the environ- mental and social elements a programme can deliver are of major signi— cance." "Theseare allareas, I feel will become increasingly important as we go forward." For further reading on this topic please go to www.wwtonline.co.uk "It is a huge infrastructure project which will improve the quality of water in the Thames " Gareth Heatley Path to the top 1998 Flood response Became Halcrow's project manager for the Northampton fl ood de- fence scheme, instigated a er the fl oods of 1998. 2011 Halcrow acquisition Senior projects direc- tor responsible for the Halcrow water & environment and power & energy sectors during the period when CH2M Hill acquired Halcrow. Put CH2M Hill's proce- dures and practices into operation across these sectors. 2014 European MD Appointed as CH2M Hill's managing direc- tor for water, Europe, tasked with growing the business in the UK and Europe. ž Tideway procurement ● The next phase of procurement for the main construction works contracts for the Thames Tideway Tunnel was reached in January as companies were invited to tender for the second works package. The fi nal bidders are expected to be announced in May 2015. The project has been split geographi- cally into three main construction works contracts, the invita- tion to tender (ITT) for West was sent out in December 2013, and the fi nal Central sec- tion is expected to be released this month. The Development Consent Application for the Tunnel is cur- rently being consid- ered by the Planning Inspectorate and, subject to consent be- ing granted, construc- tion on the project is due to start in 2016 and will involve 24 construction sites across London. The three main works packages are worth a total of up to £2.3Bn: West - £300M – £500M Central - £600m – £950m East - £500m – £800m Alongside the envi- ronmental improve- ments to the tidal River Thames, the tunnel will create more than 9,000 jobs. Already, around 500 people are working on the project. The project is expect- ed to be fi nanced and delivered by an inde- pendent Infrastruc- ture Provider (IP), with its own licence from Ofwat. The Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Act 2012 may also provide fi nancial assistance for the project. This legislation enables the government to provide contingent fi nancial support for exceptional risks in the construction of the project. According to Thames Water, the util- ity, Government and Ofwat are continuing to work together to fi nalise the fi nancing arrangements for the project.

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