Water & Wastewater Treatment

www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | NOVEMBER 2015 | 19 Project focus: Pipes and pipelines An aerial view of Leybourne Lakes Country Park • Innovations ● A specially built 25-tonne Tunnel Boring Machine was used for the two major crossings ● FMaterial excavated in the 100m and 200m tunnels was reused in filling sha s ● Painstaking environmental work was needed to protect species in Leyboune Lakes Country Park the project is running on schedule. There are six connections between the newly laid pipeline sections and the existing network, four of which have already been completed. Once the new pipes are commissioned the old main in Burham Marshes will be taken fully out of service. The new pipeline has a larger capacity than the old main, and will be able to carry nine million litres of water a day. With the South East set for a 20% population increase over the next 25 years, the project will ensure that water supplies will not be a barrier to further housebuilding in the area. "This is a forward-looking scheme… essentially, we are putting more water into an area that isn't in deficit at the moment but one in which significant development is planned, particularly around the Snodland area," says Love. "We are also putting in place provision that will prevent people suffering from bursts in the network, and even where there are problems, we will be able to resolve them more easily so customers are either not interrupted or interrupted for a much shorter period of time." and newts from lingering in the area. South East Water's environmental team made daily visits to collect any newts found and remove from the fenced-off route. It also liaised with the local council about a number of tree preservation orders in force. In February, the team also needed to take the pipeline under a stream in Leybourne Lakes Country Park while keeping the stream flowing to ensure minimal disruption to the watercourse and environment. Love explains how this was achieved: "To ensure there was minimal disruption to the stream's water flow we laid a pipe along the middle of the stream. Following that we filled two large bags with water and placed them over our temporary pipe to create a dam. We then dug down below the base of the stream and below our temporary pipe which was keeping the stream flowing and fed the new pipe through." Leybourne Lakes Country Park is a popular area enjoyed by walkers and local people, but good communications and engagement with residents ensured that the section of pipeline through the park was completed without a single complaint being received. Archaeologists have had a watching brief during phases of the pipeline work, with pottery fragments from a Roman villa being discovered at one stage. Farrans Construction were the lead contractors and engineers on the project with South East Water. Ward & Burke were the tunnelling subcontractor, with J Murphy & Sons the pipe laying subcontractor. The pipeline is around 70% completed at the time of writing, and

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