First pipes laid in new £32m water pipeline boosting the water supply in North Nottinghamshire

A huge milestone has been reached at Severn Trent’s £32m pipeline project, which is set to boost water supplies for up to 180,000 customers in North Nottinghamshire.

Utilities infrastructure and engineering services company, and Principal Contractor, Avove, has laid the first 5km of pipes for the construction of a 16km pipeline linking the Derwent Valley Aqueduct to Strelley Reservoir to the west of Nottingham, and Redhill Reservoir in the north-east of the city.

The new pipeline, which will boost the network’s resilience by providing up to an extra 25 million litres of water per day to the area, will decrease the dependency on boreholes as its main source of water supply.

Avove has incorporated innovation and value engineering throughout the project, and has brought an alternative approach to the 18-month programme that will reduce the project costs by over £8m, whilst delivering large carbon and cost savings and maintaining the performance and integrity of the main.

Work started in January 2024 and is progressing well with more than 32% of the pipes being installed to date and work has started on two strategic crossings on the scheme beneath the A610 UTR carriageway adjacent to the M1 and the network rail and tram crossing using a 1500 Tunnel Bore Machine. Over 60% of infrastructure works along the 16km route completed including the clearance of vegetation, topsoil stripping and the demarcation of fencing; the majority of this work has been carried out across private land.

We are delighted to have been selected to maintain Severn Trent’s critical water network across North Nottingham. This contract award is a testament to our collaborative, innovative and sustainable approach which allows us to safely deliver essential services across the region.

Our in-house team of experts have allowed us to effectively manage the critical path and shorten the timescales of delivery. Also, we have thoroughly assessed the route and been able to reduce the size of the pipe and the number of fittings required, which has significantly reduced the impact on both the environment and costings.”

Nick Broughton
Avove’s Principal Project Manager

The ongoing challenges from climate change and population growth mean that we need to ensure that our water supplies are both more resilient than ever before and that we’re able to handle a greater capacity.

This project is absolutely fundamental to the future supply to our customers in North Nottinghamshire and we’re pleased to once again be working with Avove’s expert team on the delivery of this key infrastructure.”

Michael Williamson
Project Manager at Severn Trent