Afternoon everyone,

This morning, I visited our site at Merlin Way to see how we were progressing with the Mechanical and Electrical installation works. Not suprising given the team working on the project, I found that the install was going smoothly and we are on track for commissioning the new valve and flowmeter tomorrow.

Take a look at a few photos from this morning's visit showing Retroflo, our appointed specialist subcontractor, working their magic....

Mark

Hi all, time for another update on Tyneside Water Network Improvement:

Merlin Way

Merlin Way is progressing well with the vast majority of the construction works complete. We are now carrying out the electrical installation and will soon commence the commissioning which will bring the new kit into service. Once that is completed, which should take around 2 weeks, we can remove the over land water main and start reinstating both the verge at Silver Fox Way and the connection points on Silver Fox Way. You may notice the new kiosk and antennae on Silver Fox Way if you are passing, there are in place to allow Northumbrian Water to communicate with and control the new kit. Hopefully our ongoing pedestrian diversion is not causing you too much inconvenience.

Hollywood Avenue

We have made a good start on Hollywood Avenue after coming back from Christmas; the site is set up, all existing services located and the connections onto the existing main in place. We are now in a position to dig the main chamber and lay our new pipework which we will be doing in the next couple of weeks. We have decided to carry out the work offline on this site which means we can install all our new structures and pipework with little or no disruption to the water supply in the area. Please be aware that the road closures in the immediate area of our works are from another project and are not related to us or Northumbrian Water.

Clayton Road

The Clayton Road site has been established and excavations begun to expose the water main. Unfortunately, the works have been delayed due to an issue with the water network which we are working with Northumbrian Water to resolve. We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the closure of Clayton Road at the junction of the Great North Road. This is necessary to allow us the space to carry out the excavations and cannot be avoided.

Whitley Road

We have returned to Whitley Road briefly to install the control kiosk which you will notice on the road side. There will be no further disruption for the rest of this week before we return again to being mechanical and electrical installations. We will endeavour to keep disruption to minimum although we will have to divert pedestrians around the works and possibly narrow the road at the roundabout.

I've attached some photos of the sites so you can see progress in more detail.

That's all for the time being, thanks for baring with us.

Dave

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Afternoon everyone,

We have returned from our Christmas break, well rested and keen to progress with our works.

Our team have returned to Merlin Way and this week, we will be installing the ducts and concrete foundations for the antenna and kiosk due to be installed next week. In the next couple of weeks we will be isolating the water main once again and recommissioning the temporary overland pipe. We are currently aiming to have the M & E equipment installed and commence the valve commissioning w/c 29th January. This should take two weeks. Thereafter, we'll be looking to reinstate the area and complete our works at this location.

We have also arrived at the junction of Hollywood Av/Salters Lane within the existing road closure for the Salters Bridge works. This is another of the six sites on the project and the team are currently setting up what will be our site for the next 12 weeks or so. My colleague will provide an update on the works in the next week or so.

A third team will commence work at Clayton Rd, Jesmond, commencing on 15th January. In order to protect the workforce and public whilst we carry out the work here, it is necessary to close the road in both directions. However, a full diversion will be in place. This will be the final site on the project and the closure will be in place for 10 weeks. Thereafter, it will reduce to a single lane closure with traffic flowing Eastbound only, off the Great North Rd. We'll provide another update shortly once the team have landed and let you know of the traffic management changes.

More from the Pipeline Team soon,

Mark

Good morning everyone,

The customer team wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and all the best for the new year.  We hope you enjoyed our Christmas video last week.

If there are any issues over the festive period please contact 03457 171100, this is a 24 hour number.  During working hours (except weekends and bank holidays) I will be available to assist with any queries.

See you all in 2018.

Christine

Good afternoon everyone,

It's almost that time of year again and we are preparing for our Christmas break. Plant and equipment is leaving site, materials are being stowed away and the fencing is being secured. Although our compound and current site is fairly remote, please remind children not to play in or around construction sites, they are dangerous places!

We will be closed from tomorrow until Monday 8th January 2018. Although we don't envisage any problems, should you see any issues at our site location, please contact the Northumbrian Water Customer Contact number on 0345 717 1100.

On behalf of Esh-MWH and the Pipeline Management Team, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Mark

Hi all, just logging on to give you all on update on progress here on Tyneside Water Network Improvements:

Merlin Way / SIlver Fox Way

Works are progressing well at Merlin Way. We have completed the main chamber and backfilled. Anyone passing in the last few day will have noticed the 30 tonne excavator squeezed into site. We needed this machine to pull out the ground support now that the chamber is finished and to lift the concrete cover slab on, which you may have seen happening this morning. Unfortunately due to the large size of the machine and the associated deliveries we have had to close one lane of Silver Fox Way. We tried to keep the disruption to a minimum by only doing this out of the rush hours and we hope it hasn't been too much of an inconvience. The traffic management will be removed again today before 15:00 and we don't expect to need it again anytime soon.

The water main has also been brought back into service today in a joint operation with Northumbrian Water in order to guarantee everyones water supply over the Christmas period.

This week should mark the end of the major civil engineering work at Merlin Way though work will continue for a few weeks to complete the mechanical and electrical installations and to reinstate the area.

Upcoming works

In addition to Merlin Way we will be starting two new sites after the Christmas break: Clayton Road and Hollywood Avenue which are expected to start 15/01/18 and 08/01/18 respectively. We will keep you updated on these jobs here on the portal as usual.

Christmas Break

We will be leaving site for the Christmas break on 22/12/17 and will complete works wherever possible, and make sure that all our work areas are safe and secure where not. Rest assured that we will be back and raring to go in the new year to ensure that Northumbrian Water can continue to provide you with the highest quality service.

Merry Christmas Everyone

Dave

Hi all,

I just wanted to end the week with a festive note.

We hope you enjoy our short video

Christine

Afternoon everyone,

I have just posted a traffic update for our project, along Jesmond Dene Rd. Unfortunately, we are going to have to close a lane from tomorrow for 2 days in order to fix a small problem with our metalwork and asphalt above the buried chamber.

The works are relatively small but for the safety of our workforce and road users, it is necessary to close the lane using traffic management. Apologies for any inconvenience, we're aiming to be in and out as quickly as possible.

Mark

Hi everyone, just a quick update from me on progress on Tyneside Water Networks Improvements.

Whitley Road

The main structures are all complete and reinstated at Whitley Road and we have pulled off site. There is a small kiosk base which we have fenced off for the time being to keep it secure but all traffic management and pedestrian diversion have been removed.

We have to install a kiosk and antennea plus some electrical works at a later date but these will not require any road works and just a very short pedestrain diversion around the work area so disruption will be kept to an absolute minimum.

Merlin Way

The works at Silver Fox Way / Merlin Way are progressing well. The main excavation is completed and supported for our workers safety and we have poured the reinforced concrete base.

The adjustments to the existing large water main are on going; we have removed a section of the pipe and are busy putting new pipe sections in to allow the installation of the new valve and flow meter. This is the largest of the mains we have worked with so far under this scheme at 600mm diameter. As you can guess this causes a whole different set of challenges for the guys on site due to the increased size and weight of the fittings involved. However, please be assured that our operatives are experienced, skilled and knowledgable and that we will bring the main back into service in top knotch condition ensuring that the areas water supply is not only maintained but improved.

Looking forward we are intending to complete the changes to the pipe work and concrete the chamber walls by the end of next week and install the cover slab the following week. This will then allow us to backfill the area and start to bring the site back to normal.

Dave

Morning everyone,

Bit of a different update from me this morning...

On Tuesday morning, the Pipeline Management team including members of NWG, were invited to witness offline testing of the new valves by our subcontractor, Retroflo. The Electronically Operated Valves and Actuators arrived in the country and were assembled last week. As part of our due diligence and Quality Control process, Retroflo thought it prudent to carry out additional testing, ahead of installing on the network and testing in live conditions. There are a lot of intricate parts on the valves and therefore a greater chance of something going wrong, which we wouldn't want once they are installed. Measure twice, cut once!!!

It was great to see such a proactive approach from our M & E subcontractor and I can happily inform you, the valves we tested all worked without any problems. Testing will continue into next week for the remaining valves. These are the first valves to be tested across the entire Pipeline Management scheme for Northumbrian Water and it was a good opportunity to see how they function following their detailed design.

Thank you once again Retroflo.

Mark