WET News

wwtonline.co.uk | MAY 2018 WET NEWS 11 Driving down disruption • Southern Water and Clancy Docwra discuss the challenges of keeping disruption to a minimum on a 30km mains replacement programme that involved working around Kent's busiest hospital, 12 schools and 137 roads W hen Southern Water began phase two of its Woolmans Wood mains replacement scheme in August 2016, it was contending with a task that had the poten- tial to cause severe disruption for local customers. The £8 million project, brought about by a DWI under- taking to mitigate the risk of iron contamination and discol- ouration, would eventually see 30km of mains replaced in pop- ulation-dense, high-traffic areas in Chatham, Gillingham and Rochester in Kent. "We were working outside a pretty major hospital, seven senior schools, five junior schools, and we had work on three of the main arterial roads through Medway," Southern Water project manager Mark Newman says. The challenge of managing ONSITE PIPES AND PIPELINES Liaison with local schools was a key feature of the £8 million project traffic issues was substantial so, to contend with the inevitable problems, a highways officer from Medway Council was brought in to work in-house with the project team on a full- time basis at Southern's expense. "It gave us quite a lot of flexi- bility," Newman says. "If we fin- ished an area early or were a week behind, he was really good in terms of making sure all our notices were in place and there were no fines for overruns. "Because we had so much work to do in such a short space of time, we had to work on mul- tiple fronts. What he brought to the project was invaluable." Delivery partner Clancy Docwra also set up a dedicated customer care team with 24/7 phone support to help keep local residents on side. Andy Bird, Clancy Docwra

• Cover