Morning everyone,

I visited our two live sites yesterday morning to have a look at our progress and speak with the site teams. Here is a little update and a few photos of each:

Merlin Way - following the enabling works and setting up our site, we have now complete the excavation for the main chamber and removed a section of the existing 600mm dia. water main. The concrete blinding has been installed and we are preparing to commence steel reinforcement for the base tomorrow. The work area is very restricted and this means it takes a little more time to carry out the works safely. However, it also reduces our impact on local traffic by keeping the adjacent carriageway open at all times. Always a plus!!

Whitley Rd - I'm pleased to say we are currently 'tidying' the work area and putting in the finishing touches with a bit of extra care and attention to detail following completion of the bulk of the construction works.The kerbs have been reinstated, topsoil placed and verge put back to normal and finally, tarmac installed for the base course of the footpath. Our team were completing the ducts and kiosk plinth this afternoon.

Overall, works are progressing nicely and it's great to see the new assets being installed and the project coming together. We are currently on target and working as efficiently as we can to reduce the impact we have on road users, pedestrians and customers. Fingers crossed, we'll have 3 of the new valves and chambers installed for Christmas!

Mark

Good Morning everyone.

Please note our decision regarding the planned works at Church Road/ Church Avenue Gosforth:

Northumbrian Water will postpone the proposed work to Church Road in South Gosforth until later in the new year.

However, as these are essential works and part of a wider programme to safeguard water supplies in the Tyne and Wear area, this work cannot be delayed indefinitely.

This decision is supported by Newcastle City Council and we are working together to agree a new project timeline and will keep residents informed.

Thank you for your understanding in this instance , once we have a revised start we will let you in advance.

Many Thanks

Richard Johnston

Project Manager

Afternoon everyone,

I visited our site at Whitley Rd yesterday and thought I'd share a couple of photos with you all. This week, we have installed the precast concrete slab and steel cover to the valve chamber. The chamber has been backfilled and once reinstated, it will look almost as if we'd never been there!

Our valves will soon be ready for delivery to site and hopefully, we will have two installed before Christmas!

More from Dave or myself soon,

Mark

Morning everyone,

A quick update from myself and a few pictures to show you the progress made at our live sites on Pipeline Management:

Whitley Rd - Progressing nicely and on programme with the new pipe installed and testing due to commence today. The RC structure has been constructed and we now await delivery of the bespoke cover slab which should arrive on Monday. The construction works will be complete ahead of Christmas with a return visit planned for the new year when we will install the new valve and carry out our M & E works.

Merlin Way - As Dave mentioned in our last update, we have established site at Merlin Way and are currently excavating to expose the existing main and build our chamber. This is following the succesful commissioning of a large overland rider maintaining a clean water supply to the adjacent factories. We are hoping to have the new pipe installed and chamber built ahead of Christmas.

Church Rd - Our 4th site is due to commence on the 13th November with traffic management and a closed lane just off Church Rd. We will set up traffic lights to control the flow of traffic here with priority being to keep Church Av/Church Rd flowing nicely. Our team will be carrying out a few small trial holes next week to locate existing buried services ahead of our main works. We are currently in the process of planning this specially to ensure we leave the area and have it nice and tidy for Christmas. Thereafter, we will return in the new year to complete the works.

Enough words, here are some photos of our progress....

Mark

Afternoon everyone,

A quick update for the Merlin Way site as part of the Network Improvements.

We started at Merlin way 09/10/17 to install a water main diversion which will allow us to carry out the main works without interupting anyones water supply. The water main is now completed and is undergoing cleaning and testing to ensure water quality is kept top notch.

The compound has been set up on Silver Fox Way for the main works which unfortunatley requires us to close the footpath on one side of Silver Fox Way and divert everyone to the other side of the road. We hope this doesn't cause too much distruption and that you'll bear with us for the next few weeks as we begin digging and concreting.

Thanks

Morning all,

Just a quick update from me today to show you the progress at our Whitley Rd site this week. The team have placed the steel reinforcement to the base, poured the concrete and installed the new pipe work through the chamber.

Next week, we will install the steel and shuttering for both the chamber and thrust walls which secure and house the pipe once it is pressurised.

We are on track and progressing nicely at this location!

Have a good weekend,

Mark

Good morning,

It was a lovely Autumn day and the traffic was awful but we decided to have a meeting this morning to discuss our programme of works and current position.  So obviously I thought it would be a great idea for the team to introduce themselves.  The quality of the video is not great due to the lack of signal and the amount of technology in the room, but still worth posting to our community portal :)

I will also take this opportunity to thank them all for agreeing to be filmed, thank you guys, you are all amazing (Mark Whaley, Mark Robinson, Dave Eden and Michael Campbell).

See you all soon

Christine

Good afternoon everyone,

As promised, I've uploaded some progress photos from the last couple of weeks. Now onto our update...

The main construction works at Jesmond Dene Rd are complete. However, we will be returning tomorrow/Monday to complete the kiosk foundation within the verge. Thereafter, it will be a few weeks before we return (unfortunately with a period of traffic management  - apologies in advance) to install the mechanical and electrical equipment.

Whitely Rd site is progressing nicely. We now have commissioned the bypass pipe that we installed to ensure there is no disruption to the network whilst the new valve chamber and section of pipe is constructed. We have been spending a little time reinstating the several holes excavated for these works, ahead of commencing the main activity. Talking of which, the excavation is complete and the blinding is now placed ahead of steel. Fingers crossed, we should have a reinforced concrete base poured early next week.

Merlin Way has commenced and we are continuing the installation of the overland rider pipe this week and into the weekend. This Saturday and Sunday will see the installation of the under pressure connections onto the exisitng pipe. We have to open up the road for this but will have the holes backfilled and covered before Sunday night. Once the temporary supply pipe is commissioned, it's onto the main works along Silver Fox way. That's another update for another day.

More from me soon,

Mark

Afternoon everyone,

Good news!! We have finished our main civil's works along Jesmond Dene Rd and reinstated the tarmac this afternoon. A few white lines to be painted and then as of lunch time tomorrow, the traffic managment will be removed and you will be able to drive onto Ilford road using the dedicated lane. We will be returning next week to complete a few small tasks within the verge and beneath the tree canopy but this won't impact traffic.

We'll provide a more global update next week covering our other sites on this project as we are making good progress. 

Have a great weekend!

Mark

Afternoon everyone.

Just signing on to give you all an update of the progress on our two Water Network Improvement sites:

The main works at Jesmond Dene is starting to come to a close. We have installed the cover slab to complete the main chamber and we are now bringing the road way back to normal by reinstating the curb line and installing manhole covers. We expect to resurface the road next week and return the road to service. We hope we haven't caused too much disruption to your daily travel and thank you for your patience!

Works in the footpath and verge will continue for a bit longer as we work to ensure the project is completed with no damage to the magnificent tree line running the length of Jesmond Dene Road.

Whitley Road is continuing and the bypass pipework installed on nightshift last week is now complete which allows us to carry out the main works with no further disruption to water supply. Hopefully we minimised traffic disruption for you by carrying out these works at night.

The first chamber has been completed and is being backfilled so we can now move on to some concreting works to secure the water main before bringing the bypass into service then starting the dig for the main chamber. Unfortunately the cones and fencing will have to remain in place at the round about but we will keep them as tight in as working room and safety allow.

A picture paints a thousand words as they say so please take at look at the photos from both sites.

Dave