WET News

4 WET NEWS OCTOBER 2014 NEWS+ Thames Water's 'super sewer' gets the green light Government approves planning consent for Tideway Tunnel, but councils react furiously over the project. T hames Water's £4.2B Thames Tideway Tunnel has been given the go-ahead with the government approving planning consent for the scheme following a six- month investigation by its Examining Authority (ExA). The tunnel will be paid for by Thames Water sewerage cus- tomers, who will see an increase of up to a maximum of £70-80 by the mid-2020s. It is needed to tackle the millions of tonnes of raw sewage that discharges into the River Thames every year. Andy Mitchell, chief execu- tive of Thames Tideway Tunnel, said: " If the tunnel had been in operation last year, it would have captured 97% of the sew- age that poured in to London's river. Hardly a week goes by when untreated sewage is pour- ing in to London's river and we are pleased that we can now start to tackle this archaic problem. NEED TO KNOW The project will involve 24 construction sites across London Work will be split into three main works – West, Central and East The project will create more than 9,000 jobs The Tideway Tunnel will be the biggest ever undertaken in the UK water industry An infrastructure provider will be sought to † nance and deliver the project "This is a huge project but it's a huge problem, and we can now get on with tackling it. It's no easy task, but we're con' - dent that we can deliver this project and still achieve our aim of minimising the impact on our customer bills." The 25km tunnel will run underground from Acton storm tanks in West London, and travel roughly the line under- neath the river to Abbey Mills Pumping Station in East Lon- don, where it will connect to the Lee Tunnel. It will be ' nanced and deliv- ered by an independent special- ist company, separate to Thames Water and with its own licence from Ofwat. Interested investors are currently prepar- ing bids for this company, with the successful bidder expected to be announced next summer. Cllr Peter John, leader of Southwark Council, has con- demned the decision to allow the super sewer drive site at Chamber's Wharf, Southwark. He said: "This is a ludicrous and evil decision by the Secre- taries of State as the Planning Inspectorate clearly found that Chamber's Wharf was not a suitable drive site for this super sewer. GOOD MONTH BAD MONTH Thames Water's £4.2B super sewer, the Thames Tideway Tunnel, gets planning consent. Joint ventures CMDP, GTM and MGjv are selected to deliver Southern Water's AMP6 improvements. Nippon Koei withdraws from takeover bid for Hyder, after Arcadis ups its bid. CH2M Hill to axe 1,200 jobs worldwide as it restructures due to having "grown in anticipation of a future state did not materialise". "We will continue to ' ght this decision and look at all our options including a Judicial Review, and ensure Thames Water is held to account along every step of the planning pro- cess and get the best possible outcome for our residents." However, John said the coun- cil had secured a ra™ of meas- ures "to mitigate the impact" of the work including no night- time barge movements as well as increased noise protection. CONTRACT WINS • 4Delivery, the Costain, MWH and Veolia Water JV, is starting work on a new £63.5M wastewater treatment works for Southern Water at Woolston, Southamp- ton. The deal involves demolishing the existing works, and building new treatment units, tanks, pumping stations and storage facilities in its place.›The project will be complete in 2019.› • Bluewater Bio International has been awarded three contracts under Anglian Water's Tertiary Solids Removal Framework. The deals are for FilterClear, Bluewater's high performance multimedia † ltration technology for projects at water recycling centres at Brington, Bugbrooke and Alford. • CH2M Hill is to assist with improving the municipal water system in towns along the Jiu Valley River in Hunedoara County, Romania. As part of the £1.8M contract, CH2M Hill will produce designs for the upgrade and extension of the water and sewerage networks in cities in Romania's Jiu Valley for Romanian municipal water utility SC Apa Serv Valea Jiului SA. Housebuilding and construction group reports a 17% rise in pre-tax pro† t as well as number of project wins. Galliford Try maintains position as key infrastructure supplier G alliford Try says its con- struction division is main- taining its position as a key infrastructure supplier to the UK utilities as it begins to secure re- peat work under the AMP6 framework awards for its water customers. The division reported a 20.1% drop in operating pro' t to £15.1M for the year to June 30, 2013 while turnover fell 1.3% to £912.7. Galliford Try said the con- struction performed well as mar- ket conditions continued to be challenging. The division is focusing on careful management of margins and cash balances, with the order book largely unchanged at £1.7B. The division has won several important and prestigious con- tracts, and the business is well positioned to bene' t from improvements in construction markets and to grow when mar- kets allow. Construction enjoys good levels of visibility following a number of major project wins. Galliford Try said that while margins are expected to reduce, the division currently has secured 87% of its projected workload for 2014, whilst maintaining its order book at £1.7B. The group said the regulated market remains active "as a result of the utility companies' ' ve-year expenditure plans". It said work continues to come through as expected and Galliford Try has a strong position. In July, it was re- appointed by Yorkshire Water as a contractor for its AMP6 framework. Galliford Try's infrastructure division continued to deliver work for regulated businesses during the year and also has a number of major UK projects in progress. Morrison Construction was awarded a £28M contract to upgrade £ ood defences at Forres in northern Scotland. The project is part of the wider £177M Moray Flood Alleviation scheme to solve £ ooding issues across Moray. The contract is due to complete in spring 2015. Galliford Try's joint venture with Black & Veatch also secured one of six places on part of the Environment Agency's Water and Environment Management frame- work for 2013-17. The infrastructure division recorded an operating pro' t of £6.4M for the year on a turnover of £416.3M Galliford Try's group turnover for the year was down 2% to 1.47B while pre-tax pro' t was up £17% to £74.1M. The Tideway Tunnel will run 25km underground from Acton to Abbey Mills Pumping Station, where it will connect to the Lee Tunnel Water utility plans shop window event to showcase forward- thinking for every element of the water cycle. Anglian Water throws down innovation gauntlet A nglian Water has challenged innovators to create the water company of the future. Through the Water Innova- tion Network (WIN), a joint ini- tiative with economic develop- ment company Opportunity Peterborough, Anglian is invit- ing suppliers to an event in October to create and visualise how each element of the water cycle of 2030 could operate, from water abstraction to water recycling. The 'Shop Window' project aims to ' nd solutions to long- term challenges, such as climate change and population growth, that are putting a strain on water resources. The project will enable Anglian to cherry pick the latest innovations, developing and piloting them for use in its wider business. Steve Kaye, Anglian Water's head of innovation, said: "We are challenging innovators, both big and small, to sit round the table with us and develop ideas to improve every aspect of our water cycle in the context of the environmental and operational challenges we will face in the future. "These ideas may stretch beyond our remit as a water company today, but we will be working with commercial, government and academic partners to implement the best ideas in a major pilot scheme in Newmarket." The project has aspirational goals including 100% chemical free drinking water, 0% leakage and 100% customer satisfaction. Kaye continued: "The October event is a unique opportunity for innovators to gain direct access to key decision-makers within our business. "Senior managers from across the company will be hosting tables at the event to talk directly to suppliers about the problems we face daily and in the longer-term; challenging them to help us provide solutions." The shop window event is being held on October 31 at the Kings Gate Conference centre in Peterborough. NEED TO KNOW Anglian's aspirational goals including 100% chemical free drinking water, 0% leakage and 100% customer satisfaction The company will cherry pick the latest innovations, developing and piloting them for use in its wider business The company is also seeking innovative ideas from its sta£ through Think Space, a cloud-based social media platform, which has generated 30 ideas in its † rst month Cllr Stephen Cowan, leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council, described the decision as "disgraceful". He said resi- dents and the council believe that the concrete bore hole will cause years of misery, which could have been avoided if the site had been located over the river in Barn Elms The construction site is needed to create a major drill- ing entrance for the 15-mile tunnel under the Thames. Steve Kaye: challenging innovators SHARE YOUR OPINION... yoursaywn@fav-house.com

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