Anglian Water have revealed where they plan to construct the first stage of their new 310 mile water transfer pipeline.
A 14 mile stretch referred to as the Lincoln to Ancaster Pipeline will be constructed between the Lincolnshire villages of Waddington and Ancaster.
The section will begin at a newly constructed pumping station to the east of RAF Waddington, 4.2 miles south of Lincoln.
It will then pass under the A15, heading south west to the village of Coleby before diverting south to follow the High Dike Road past Navenby and Wellingore.
The section will cross the A17 just north of Ancaster, passing between Ancaster and neighbouring Wilsford to the east where it will connect with Wilsford Reservoir.
To install the 14 mile pipeline, contractors will rely on a 40 metre working corridor. This could lead to some impact on local communities during construction. Anglian hopes to begin work in Spring 2021 with a completion date of 2023.
The Lincoln to Ancaster Pipeline will eventually form part of a vast 310 mile water transfer pipeline, allowing Anglian Water to move resources around its network.
North Lincolnshire currently enjoys a water surplus at the same time as areas of Essex are threatened by dwindling supplies and droughts.
Transferring water from the plentiful north to the barren south is seen as vital to protecting supplies, especially with population growth and climate change likely to impact the south east heavily over the next 50 years.
To manage the £350 million pipelines construction, Anglian recently announced the formation of the Strategic Pipeline Alliance, made up of Anglian and construction firms Costain, Jacobs, Mott MacDonald Bentley and Farrans.
Speaking about the Lincoln to Ancaster section, Strategic Pipeline Alliance director James Crompton said, “This scheme marks the first stage of one of the largest strategic infrastructure programmes the UK has seen since the major gas pipeline installations in Wales during the 1990s.”
“Ours is the driest region in the UK, and without this programme of work, alongside continuing to drive down leakage as well as installing 760,000 upgraded water meters to help our customers better understand their water usage, we’d be facing a water shortfall of millions of litres a day.”
Communities between Lincoln and Ancaster currently rely on a single pipeline for all their water needs. Anglian say that the new pipeline will increase the reliability of local water supply for those villages
Peter Simpson, chief executive of Anglian Water, added, “The challenges of population growth and a changing climate are felt nowhere more keenly than here in the East of England.”
“Starting this programme is a significant part of our planned investment in the region over the next five years, which will begin to tackle those challenges and secure customer supplies well into the future.”
View the proposed route of the Lincoln to Ancaster Pipeline
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