€15.7 million water mains work to last three months
The biggest ever revamp of Carlisle’s water mains has moved into its final phase around the north of the city centre.
The work, which started on January 4, is expected to last three months and will bring to a conclusion a huge five year £14 million (€15.7 million) scheme by United Utilities to clean and refurbish more than 30km of the city’s largest water pipes.
This last phase of work will involve re-furbishing the 18 inch diameter water pipes which run from Victoria Place, through Strand Road, Duke’s Road and Hardwicke Circus and on to West Tower and Annetwell Street, finishing at Bridge Street.
United Utilities’ third party co-ordinator, Paul Wheadon, said: “Detailed traffic and working arrangements have been agreed with highways officials to try to keep the impact of this vital work to the absolute minimum and we will be pulling out all the stops to do it as quickly and safely as we can.
“We really appreciate the patience of people in Carlisle while this essential work has been under way. A project of this scale of work is never without complications but the benefits will be long lasting. Many of the huge pipes we’re working on have served the city well for decades but were responsible for some occasional discolouration in the drinking water supply for some people. That’s what we want to stop.
“To speed things along as much as possible, we’ll be using a technique called slip-lining which vastly reduces the amount of digging we need to do. This involves pulling a strong new plastic lining inside the existing pipe. We’ll also work at weekends where we can.”
The work, which started on January 4, is expected to last three months and will bring to a conclusion a huge five year £14 million (€15.7 million) scheme by United Utilities to clean and refurbish more than 30km of the city’s largest water pipes.
This last phase of work will involve re-furbishing the 18 inch diameter water pipes which run from Victoria Place, through Strand Road, Duke’s Road and Hardwicke Circus and on to West Tower and Annetwell Street, finishing at Bridge Street.
United Utilities’ third party co-ordinator, Paul Wheadon, said: “Detailed traffic and working arrangements have been agreed with highways officials to try to keep the impact of this vital work to the absolute minimum and we will be pulling out all the stops to do it as quickly and safely as we can.
“We really appreciate the patience of people in Carlisle while this essential work has been under way. A project of this scale of work is never without complications but the benefits will be long lasting. Many of the huge pipes we’re working on have served the city well for decades but were responsible for some occasional discolouration in the drinking water supply for some people. That’s what we want to stop.
“To speed things along as much as possible, we’ll be using a technique called slip-lining which vastly reduces the amount of digging we need to do. This involves pulling a strong new plastic lining inside the existing pipe. We’ll also work at weekends where we can.”
