Water & Wastewater Treatment

16 | MAY 2015 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Project focus: water resource management Planning permission for the project was granted in 2009 and construction started in 2010. Because of the large scope of the project, there were four planning authorities involved, and 123 non-standard planning conditions were attached to the permission. These included restrictions on the time of the year certain work could be done, and restrictions on which work could be done simultaneously, in order to protect bird life. All the gravel for the project had to be sourced from the site itself, for sustainability reasons and to minimise heavy vehicle traffic to the site. Stakeholder management efforts for the project was extensive, with consul- tation exercises ongoing from an early stage and community benefits, such as a brand new birdlife visitor centre, built into the project. Newsletters were distributed regularly to residents, while an Abberton Liaison Group was formed, with regular meetings to keep interested parties informed of develop- ments. This group had 20 members, including representatives from local parish, county and borough councils, interest groups such as landowners and ramblers associations, and wildlife organisations such as the RSPB and Wildlife Trust. The construction phase saw a mil- lion cubic metres of soil and 250,000 the Stour. Finally, a new pipeline was required running from Wormingford to Abberton. Planning challenges Procurement for the schemes saw MWHT appointed to the job of upgrad- ing Kennet Pumping Station, which involved the installation of two 40mld (megalitres-per-day) pumps and one 70mld pump. Farrans Construction won the contract for the two new pipe- lines – both around 16km long and made from 1200mm welded steel - and also the work to build the new pump- ing station at Wormingford. Carillion Construction won the contract for enlarging the reservoir itself. cubic metres of granular material moved around the site, giving some idea of the scale of the project. Major works were completed in 2014, ahead of schedule, and the cost of the project (£140M) was below the original amount approved by the board for the project, which was £150M. In mid-March this year, the reservoir was finally declared full when it reached its new top level of 21m AOD (above ordnance datum) up from the original reservoir top level of 17.8m AOD. The completion of the project is a moment of great satisfaction for Jen- kins, who aŸer being involved in the plans from the very start, has worked as full-time Programme Manager for the Abberton Scheme since 1999. "I've been involved on the Abberton Scheme right from the beginning, and as Programme Manager I've been working on the scheme full-time for 15 years. I've taken it from the inception, through the various design options, the planning, the public liaison, and I was on site during the four years of the construction. From my own point of view, it's the culmination of a career - you couldn't ask for a better project. The variety, the scope of the work: there won't be another project like this for a long time, and I've been fortunate to be with it from start to finish." Work underway at the site. Construction started in 2010 and took four years Abberton Programme Manager Jim Jenkins at the reservoir

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