Preparations for the arrival of massive tunnelling machines have begun in Newark as part of a plan to improve the town’s notoriously outdated sewers.
The next stage of the 60 million pound project will see tunnel shafts created on Sleaford Road and Beacon Hill Road with work starting today (Monday, January 9).
The work is part of The Newark Waste and Water Improvement Project which, over the next three years, will upgrade the town’s sewerage network, which can no longer cope when there is heavy rainfall.
Newark’s dated sewers have had problems with build-ups of fat and oil, sometimes called ‘fatbergs’, and similar to the one pictured below, which are formed when congealed fat and other items that are flushed or poured away cannot break down.
To reduce disruption during the work, Sleaford Road and Beacon Hill Road will not be closed at the same time.
The shafts will allow large, remote-controlled tunnelling machines to dig new and bigger sewer pipes under Newark from March.
Severn Trent programme engineer, Nick Wallace, said: “We’re going to be tunnelling under Sleaford Road to allow us to install new, bigger sewer pipes for the area.
“This means we can remove waste water more quickly and, when all our work is complete, that’ll mean we can reduce the risk of flooding in this part of town.
“We’ve already started work by digging a shaft in the school field next to Queens Road that will allow us to put the tunnelling machine into the ground.
“The machine will then make its way along the road to pop out further down Sleaford Road before heading down onto Beacon Hill Road, all without the people of Newark knowing it’s there.”
The sewerage system has been unable to cope with the growth of the town’s population which results in flooding to approximately 400 properties during times of heavy rainfall according to the project’s website.
Jessie Lancaster works at One Stop on Sleaford Road, she said: “At the moment the road is blocked just past the shop, stopping people getting up to the roundabout near Queen’s Road.
“The drain outside the shop has been dodgy since I joined in August and when I’ve had to remove leaves from it to stop it blocking further there is a horrible smell of faeces and the water level is always up to the highest level, even on a sunny day.
“I’ve lived in the area for quite a while and fortunately haven’t been flooded myself but it has been an issue so it’s good they are doing something about it.”
