Barhale has finished work on over a kilometre of the water main running through the streets around Victoria Station
Thames Water appointed Barhale, a Civil engineering, infrastructure and tunnelling specialist, to deliver this Phase One work, replacing the trunk main with a rehabilitated 30” cast iron pipe.
The streets are some of the busiest in London, and so work had to be quick and efficient.
Open-cut trenchwork would not work
Due to the business of the streets, Barhale chose to forego the traditional method of Open-cut trenchwork (cutting a trench open along the whole length of the pipe to replace it) as it would disrupt commuters, residents, and businesses.
Instead, a sliplining technique was utilised, involving the insertion of a smaller pipe into the original pipe and sealing the space between them with grout, meaning no excavation was required outside of the ends of the pipe to join them to the network.
The Victoria station water network upgrade comes as a part of the £16m worth of projects (across Phase One and Two) being undertaken by Thames Water throughout London. The conditional allowance saw the company granted £300m by its economic regulator to enhance the London water network.
Shane Gorman, Barhale’s water director (southern region), said: “Even by London’s standards, this project was in a really busy area, he said. “What’s more, the congestion above ground was matched below ground where there was an extremely high density of cables and pipes.
“It was an absolute priority for us to try to reduce any potential disruption caused by works so we spent a lot of time conducting a very detailed survey of the route which enabled us to maximise the length of sliplining.
“We are delighted with the success of the project which has improved network resilience with minimum impact and will bring peace of mind to residents and visitors to this part of the capital.”
Mark Taylor, director of delivery, London infrastructure at Thames Water, said: “This vital upgrade replaces a Victorian-era cast iron pipe that’s served London for over 100 years. By modernising this critical infrastructure, we’re ensuring a more reliable water supply for Londoners while significantly reducing leaks and minimising community disruption.
“We’re grateful to Barhale for completing phase one ahead of the Christmas period, allowing us to progress with remaining upgrades in the New Year with minimal impact to residents, businesses and commuters.”
Thames Water is looking to upgrade the network for the whole city
Barhale was awarded a contract last year by Thames Water for the AMP8 programme, in which they will cover both the infrastructure and non-infrastructure frameworks.
The Arup Binnies Joint Venture was also chosen earlier this year to work under the £300m framework, leading on three SRO programmes: The South East Strategic Reservoir Option, the Severn to Thames Transfer, and London Water Recycling.
This came shortly after Ofwat warned Thames Water that they had “significant issues” that needed addressing in June last year, especially after Sarah Bentley stepped down as chief executive, and the £14bn debt the company owed came to light. There were fears that Thames Water could collapse, and the government was ready to act should it come to that.
