Good afternoon, Here is our final portal update of the year: - The site team are continuing with with the construction of the new Primary Settlement Tank, the walls have been infilled and the temporary works have been removed. The inlet drainage has been connected, and the new half bridge scrapers are due to be installed. - The Chemical Dosing Kiosk's have been delivered and successfully installed. - The new Motor Control Centre panel has been installed within the existing admin building. - Drainage and electrical work are also ongoing. The site will be closing down for the Christmas break from Wednesday 20th December until Tuesday 2nd January.  On behalf of the project team, we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!      

Good afternoon, Following on from Charles' update I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce myself and some of the Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB) team. My name is Gaby Ward, I am the Customer Liaison Officer for Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB) and will be conducting the engagement with our customers and posting regular updates on here. Working alongside myself at MMB is Jason Bradley, our Contracts Manager and Alex Brown our Site Agent.  Over the next two weeks we will be starting to set up the site compound. Please be aware during this time, there will be an increase of vehicles accessing the STW delivering materials and the site cabins. If you are in this area, please take extra care. Once we have our working area set up, the volume of traffic will start to decrease and with our work being within the STW, any disruption should be minimal.  The site will be closing down for the Christmas break from Wednesday 20th December until Tuesday 2nd January.  On behalf of the project team, we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Good afternoon, Farrans Administrator, Mandy Spence, has been busy collecting Christmas goodies from all of our team working on Project Pipeline.  Over the last few weeks, she managed to collect enough to fill four big boxes and I went out with her this afternoon to help her donate them to food banks at either end of the pipeline. We dropped the two boxes off with Johnny Elliott at the TCR Hub just outside of Barnard Castle (above). He explained these Christmas treats of chocolates, biscuits and puddings will be much appreciated by their clients who sadly rely on donations like this. We also dropped two boxes off with Captain Amanda Smethurst at The Salvation Army in Shildon (above), who again extended her thanks for the gesture.   Kind regards Karen Alexander Farrans’ Community Business Partner

Good afternoon, Since our last update, the site team have been busy setting up our new compound area. The stone laydown area has been laid, and the site cabins have been delivered and are now up and running. The area for the new Northern Power Grid (NPG) Kiosk has been dug out and ready to be stoned up in preparation for the concrete base to be poured. Once we return to work after the Christmas Break, the new kiosk will then be installed. The new access road area has also been dug out ready to be stoned up. The site will be closing down for the Christmas break from Wednesday 20th December until Tuesday 2nd January.  On behalf of the project team, we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Good afternoon, Since our last update, the site team have been busy setting up our new compound area. The stone laydown area has been laid, and the site cabins have been delivered and are now up and running. The Lamella Settling Tanks have also been delivered and set up which will temporarily replace the Primary Settlement Tanks (PST). Over the next two weeks we will be commencing with the demolition of the PST's. Please be aware that during this time and due to the nature of the demolition works, there may be a slight increase in noise on site. We will also have wagon's coming to and from our working area removing materials. Please be assured that disruption will be kept to a minimum however, should you require any assistance our site team will be happy to help. Alternatively, please feel free to leave a comment below and a member of the project team will get back to you. The site will be closing down for the Christmas break from Wednesday 20th December until Tuesday 2nd January.  On behalf of the project team, we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

  Good afternoon, I spent a very enjoyable morning supporting Year 11 pupils with a Speed Networking session at Whitworth Academy in Spennymoor on Tuesday 28 November.  The event had been organised by the Durham Works team, within Durham County Council, who promote links between schools and local employers.   Around 30 young people aged between 15-16 years old took part in the workshop, that gave them an insight into a whole range of job roles and careers they may not have previously considered. As well as talking more broadly about construction and civil engineering, I told them about my role involving comms and community engagement, which was a new concept to most of them! Exercises like this are really important to not only promote who we are and what we are doing today, but also help ensure we create interest in the sector for future career choices and attract new, young talent into our organisations.   Kind regards Karen Alexander Farrans’ Community Business Partner

Hi everyone, here's our latest update. The snow today really brings the winter feel home! Over the past few months, I've been regularly visiting The Cosy Café at Springwell Community Venue each Thursday. However, I'll be taking a break for the remainder of the year. But don't worry, I'll be back in the New Year, right after the ladies at the Cosy Café have their new kitchen installed! At Eighton Banks, our pipeline progress hasn't been as quick as we hoped, but we're still on schedule. To maintain momentum, we'll be working extra hours - every Saturday from 8 am to 1 pm until Christmas excluding this Saturday due to the weather conditions. Important Notice: We'll need to temporarily divert the supply to The Mount. This means some properties might experience a brief interruption in service. If your property is affected, you'll receive a notification card well in advance. We're targeting the week commencing 11th December for this, and any disruption should last no more than 2 hours and 45 minutes. Over at Springwell Reservoir, the delivery of precast continues, and we're making solid progress erecting the walls. This crucial phase will carry on into the New Year and beyond, steadily bringing the reservoir to life. Great news about the Springwell Road entrance - started on 6th November and now it's complete! We've started fencing off our work areas and are getting on with topsoil stripping. Your patience and support are greatly appreciated as we work through these stages. We're doing our best to minimise any inconvenience and keep you updated. Stay warm and take care! Sarah

Afternoon All.   Work to rebuild the two filter beds at Hexham STW is approaching completion. The filter media continues to be delivered to site in varying rates. After washing any dust from the media, it is placed in the filters by a 22t long reach excavator, where it is spread by a 3t excavator. The filling of the first filter was completed last week, followed by a crane lift to move the 3t excavator to the second filter. Filling of the second filter is continuing and is around 60% complete. In the few remaining weeks until the Christmas break our filter contractor will complete his works and demobilise, whilst our in-house gang will construct new manholes, which are part of the process to bring the new filters into operation, and possibly install an extension to the site water main to feed the planned new inlet works. There is plenty of works still to look forward to in the new year – refurbishment of the existing distribution chamber, seeding of the new filters, refurbishment of the existing detritor, and construction of the new inlet works, amongst others. Thanks for taking the time to read the update. Photos are also attached for your perusal.   Dave

Good morning, We’re continuing with our preparation work along the pipeline route, and we’ve arranged two short-term road closures in conjunction with Durham County Council in the coming weeks. The first of these will take place from Monday 4th December to Sunday 10th December 2023 on Heighington Road leading to South Lodge, Selaby Lane, Gainford. The second will take place from Monday 11th December 2023 to Sunday 17th December 2023 on Hulam Lane, leading to Selaby Lane, Gainford.  With all construction projects, unexpected delays can sometimes occur. Please be assured that we’re working closely with our partners to do all we can to minimise any disruption for you and your community throughout the work.  We’ll be working as quickly and as safely as possible and thank people for their patience while this essential work is happening.  Typical working hours will be between 7.30am – 6.00pm, Monday to Friday and 8.00am – 2.00pm on a Saturday. We’ll be placing roadside signage at the road closure points to clearly signpost the diversion routes. If you’d like to speak to a member of our project team, you can telephone our customer contact centre on 0345 717 1100 or tweet us on @nwater_care and we will be very happy to help you.   Kind regards Karen Alexander Farrans’ Community Business Partner  

Good afternoon, I'd just like to start this update by introducing myself! My name is Julie Oakley, I am the new Customer Liaison Officer for MMB taking over from Joan and will be conducting the engagement with our customers and posting regular updates going forward! Since our last update, works on the west side of the pumping station are progressing with all tubular piling now drilled to depth. Currently we are working on the installation of the interlocking sheet piles between the steel piping. Once these sheet piles have been installed we will make a start on the drilling works associated with the installation of the tubular piping on the east side of the pumping station.   Please feel free to leave a comment below should you have any questions or concerns and a member of the project team will get back to you. 

Hello, Just following on from Chris' update, I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and some of the Project Team from Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB). My name is Gaby Ward, I am the Customer Liaison Officer for MMB and will be conducting the engagement with our customers and posting regular updates on here. We also have Ben Corner (Contracts Manager), George Maddison (Site Agent), Michael Pitcher (Project Lead), Graeme Eagling (Electrical Design Engineer) and Helen Frost (Process Lead). MMB are carrying out the work at Mickleton STW on behalf of Northumbrian Water. We wanted to let you know that our team will be commencing with setting up the site working area including the delivery of our welfare unit and the set up of the temporary treatment works from Thursday 30th November. During this time, the vegetation clearance works along Yarker Lane will take place which will entail tidying up and trimming back over hanging branches. Please take extra care if you are in the area as there will be more traffic than usual for the next couple of weeks. Our construction work will then commence in January as mentioned in Chris' previous update.  Please feel free to leave a comment below should you have any questions and a member of the project team will get back to you.  On behalf of the project team, we would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year! Speak soon! Gaby

Good afternoon, The first pipes have been laid in a new 57km water pipeline, which will support supplies to more than 200,000 people across the North East. Northumbrian Water’s Project Pipeline: County Durham and the Tees Valley is a huge £155m investment in futureproofing the resilience and quality of water supply to customers. Phase 1 of the project, which will connect Lartington Water Treatment Works in Upper Teesdale with the town of Gainford and across to Shildon, County Durham, is being constructed by Northumbrian Water’s partners, Farrans Construction. The project will see the replacement of sections of the network that have served the area for more than 100 years, alongside new stretches of pipeline. Pipelaying started from Whorley reservoir and the teams are working in the directions of Lartington and Shildon. A second phase is currently being planned, with work scheduled to start in 2025, further connecting the pipeline on to Teesside at Long Newton. James Dawes, Project Manager, said: “This is one of the biggest ever investments in customers’ water supplies here in the North East. Following years of planning and preparation, to ensure we can deliver this project in the best way possible, it’s fantastic to see the first pipes in the ground. “There is still a long way to go, with Phase 1 scheduled to see us working into 2025, and Phase 2 for a further three years after that, but this is a huge milestone. “We will continue to work with Farrans Construction and our other partners, with local stakeholders, communities and customers, as we progress across the south of County Durham and into Teesside, on the road to putting this new pipeline, that will deliver benefits for 200,000 customers, into service.” Stephen Coates, Project Manager, Farrans Construction, said: “We have been on site for the last two months making final preparations ahead of the pipe work being laid so this is an exciting milestone for this project, our client and our team. The route of the pipeline will cross the River Tees and we are constructing a tunnel to carry the pipe 12m below the river bed, close to the villages of Lartington and Cotherstone in Teesdale. “This is an important project which will provide resilience in the water supply for many years to come. We look forward to continuing to support the local community through our social value programme and already we have worked with social enterprises, charities and taken part in the Cotherstone 5km run.” Kind regards Karen Alexander Farrans’ Community Business Partner