A Costain/Vinci joint venture is expected to be announced shortly as preferred bidder by Scottish Water to design and build a 3-mile long 4.65m diameter sewer tunnel in Glasgow.
The £100 million tunnel, which will be the biggest storm water storage tunnel in Scotland, will resolve water quality and reduce flooding issues at key locations in the area served by the Shieldhall Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) in the south of Glasgow.
The Shieldhall tunnel , which will be driven at depths of between 10m to 30m, will be a major part of Scottish Water’s £250m, five-year programme of work announced in February 2013 to upgrade the waste water network in the Glasgow area.
Work on the Tunnel is expected to start this year and take three and a half years to complete, including preparatory work, mine working consolidation and utility diversion work..
Geoff Aitkenhead, Scottish Water’s Asset Management Director, said:
“The Shieldhall tunnel will resolve large-scale water quality problems in the River Clyde and its tributaries, provide aesthetic screening to overflows into watercourses such as tributaries of the Clyde and White Cart Water and reduce the risk of flooding.”
“The tunnel will increase capacity and alleviate pressure on the existing network by providing additional storm water storage.”
The new waste water tunnel will transfer combined sewer flows (surface water such as rainfall and waste water from properties) and provide storm storage of heavy rainfall).
Scottish Water’s investment in the tunnel, and the overall environmental improvement scheme, follows years of collaboration and studies by the Metropolitan Glasgow Strategic Drainage Partnership (MGSDP), which includes Scottish Water, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and local authorities such as Glasgow City Council.
Together with Bachy, the Costain/Vinci jv is also currently in the bidding for the three major tunnelling packages on the Thames Tideway Tunnel scheme.
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