More contracts have been signed as the project to renew the Haweswater aqueduct takes shape, which will see the 70-year-old link renewed to ensure reliable water supplies to Manchester for decades to come.
Haweswater, which lies in the east of the Lake District National Park, was enlarged to become a reservoir for Manchester by the building of a dam at its northern end between 1937 and 1944, with the water transported by gravity down a 110 km aqueduct that was finished in 1955.
As Tunnelling Journal reports, contractor Arup is making preparations for the work on behalf of United Utilities, with its latest partner contract being agreed with Strabag for design services.
The use of concrete waterproofing systems may be a particularly significant part of the work, which will see over 50 KM of tunnel being renewed.
A total of six sections are being targeted for the work, the southernmost two being the contiguous sections TR5 and TR6 at Haslingdon and Walmersley in Rossendale, just before the aqueduct crosses into Greater Manchester.
Otherwise, the longest section will be the TR3 Bowland section in Lancashire, with the TR1 and 2 sections in Cumbria and TR4 in Lancashire making up the other tunnelling projects.
The aim will be to ensure the integrity of water supplies, which will prevent leakages and pollution as the supplies continue to supply 570 million litres to around two million people in the north-west of England every day.
Haweswater is one of two lakes in the Lake District that were dammed to provide water for Manchester before the area became a national park. The first was Thirlmere, which was dammed in the 1890s and supplies water via the world’s longest gravitational aqueduct, which was completed in 1925.
Widely regarded as a triumph of Victorian engineering, the aqueduct is a mixture of tunnels, pipes and bridges as it crosses various valleys, rivers and railways on its 96-mile route.