By lyndamyer
In order to removing debris, silt and invasive species, such as Zebra mussels, which are found across the network, Barhale has concluded a £9m package of schemes under Thames Water’s Raw Water Tunnel Inspection & Refurbishment program and this civil engineering and infrastructure company is due to inspect 35km of raw water tunnels across West and North London. The amount of mussels that will be removed from most affected tunnels is forecasted to be as much as 140m3, while the tunnels will then be inspected and any structural repairs will be carried out.
Including: Moor Lane shaft (gate and butterfly valves); Ashford Common shaft (gate and butterfly valves); Queen Mary Outlet – Hampton Leg (gate valves); Wraysbury Shaft (butterfly valve); as well as Queen Mother (penstock), are going to be inspected and replaced /refurbished by Barhale. Two gate valves at the King George VI Reservoir will also be refurbished.
The work, which comprises 12 schemes, is being delivered under the AMP7 Lot 5 Framework. Barhale will work closely with Thames Water to manage the isolation program.
Emphasizing on the role of this program as a key element in the maintenance and upgrade of London’s water supply, Barhale director Phil Cull said: “This is a hugely important part of London’s water infrastructure and we are delighted to get the go ahead from Thames Water. We have built a huge amount of expertise and experience on the Thames Water network and to be selected on this project is great vote of confidence in our team’s capabilities.”
He continued: “While maintaining good flows through the raw water tunnels is essential, it is also of paramount importance that works are delivered efficiently and on time to ensure there is no unnecessary pressure on the system.”
“We have been working closely with the Thames Water team to optimize isolations and are bringing a great deal of new thinking developed through the maintenance of the Thames Water Ring Main to the Raw Water program. We will again be collaborating to minimize the length of isolations and to maximize what is achieved during each one,” added Phil Cull.
According to Barhale regional manager John Prendergast: “The work built on the successful delivery of the first three years of the Thames Water AMP7 Tunnels and Aqueducts program in which Barhale had already completed monitoring and maintenance on almost half the length of the Thames Water Ring Main tunnels and a further 9km of raw water tunnels.”
The scheduled date for completion of this project is 2025.
A contract with £4.5m value has been granted to Barhale by Thames Water in December 2022, which intended to reinforce a sewer to minimize the impact from HS2 tunneling. Additionally, in order to protecting north London’s Middle Level Two (ML2) sewer, Barhale is slated to install a 75m length of non-structural liner while HS2’s TBMs pass underneath.
