A giant Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), measuring 1.8m in diameter, has arrived in Meadow Lane Portadown for use on a key £7.8 million NI Water wastewater network upgrade.

Photo (L-R): Mark Mitchell NI Water, Norman Annesley McAdam, Lisa Hughes NI Water and Conor Ward from BSG.

The machine, which has now commenced work, will help reduce disruption within the Meadow Lane area by tunnelling around 385m of the new sewer underground.

Meadow Lane will remain open throughout the tunnelling works, which will continue until summer 2024. By employing innovative trenchless (underground) pipelaying techniques, contractor BSG can install the new larger diameter sewer without any impact to motorists or pedestrians in the Meadow Lane area of Portadown.

At the centre of this major NI Water investment is the construction of a new wastewater pumping station which includes a 20m diameter underground storage tank capable of holding 1.5 million litres of stormwater.

The critical new wastewater infrastructure will support economic growth and future development in the area. It will also deliver important environmental benefits for the community including reduced risk of out-of-sewer flooding and improved water quality in local watercourses through the closure of storm overflows.