A team of skilled divers have been investigating a tunnelling shaft in Newark as part of work to improve the town’s outdated sewers.
DiveTech UK, a professional service specialising in inland diving travelled from Norfolk to the town to descend into the tunnelling shaft on Queens Road on Tuesday.
An engineer was lowered into the nine metre shaft filled with murky water and discovered an area of hard rock which was causing a blockage.
Dave James from BNM Alliance, said: “Four divers from the team spent two days breaking out the harder rock, working in rotation for up to two hours under water.
“They used umbilical air lines to feed air to the diver which also allowed communication between the team.
“We needed to sink the shaft, so by clearing the rock we were able to get it to the required 12 metre level.
“The DiveTech team were great and did a smashing job, helping to make sure that we can keep our works on track.”
The work is part of Severn Trent’s three-year Waste and Water Improvement Project, a £60 million pound scheme that will involve massive tunnelling machines arriving in the town from March.
Newark’s sewer system has been unable to cope with the growth of the town’s population, which results in flooding to around 400 properties during times of heavy rainfall.
Tim Sawyer from Severn Trent said: “When we build shafts in areas with wet ground, like here in Newark, the shafts are purposely built under water and then pumped dry when they are completed.
“Whilst we are working on them, the water is often murky and we are unable to see to the bottom, so from time to time we need to call in specialist divers to come and work underwater in the hole that we are digging.
“The divers can then help us to pinpoint and dig out areas of hard ground.
“The engineer found an area of hard rock that needed to be removed so DiveTech high pressure jetted, jack hammered and lifted the rock clear, allowing our team to then continue with work on the shaft from the surface.”
Seven miles of new sewers and six miles of new water mains are being built as part of the project.
Two and a half miles of tunnel sewers will be created, one of which will be large enough to drive a transit van through.
The tunnel shafts have been created on Queens Road, Sleaford Road and Beacon Hill Road which will allow large, remote-controlled tunnelling machines to dig new sewers from March.
