Seabed pipe work almost complete
Yorkshire Water spending £7 million on work
The replacement of a sea outfall off Scarborough with a 2.5km pipe towed 500 miles from Norway for vessels digging a seabed trench is nearly done.
Yorkshire Water’s £7 million project to replace the sea outfall pipe at Wheatcroft in Scarborough is nearing completion.
Van Oord, a leading marine engineering contractor, has had numerous vessels on station in Cornelian Bay since April this year whilst excavating a trench in the seabed and installing the new pipe.
In April and May the team battled through some bad weather from the east and remain on target to finish the project by the end of July.
The new 2.5km outfall pipe, which replaces the old waste water pipe from the McCain factory, was created in Norway and towed across the North Sea to Teesside docks in sections, each 500 metres long.
The five sections of pipe were prepared at port, towed out to Cornelian Bay and welded together at sea before being placed in the trench and buried under the seabed at the end of June.
Project Manager Mark Doherty said: “We’re delighted to announce that our Van Oord colleagues have successfully installed the new outfall pipe.
“Van Oord were chosen because of their extensive expertise and experience in this kind of work and the project team overcame a period of very bad weather to keep the project on target.
“Throughout the project the whole team have shown great ingenuity and have displayed a great deal of collaboration to overcome the challenges it has presented.”
The current pipe is made of steel and is prone to cracking and spills, it is being replaced with a new, high-density plastic pipe which will last for about 60 years. The new pipe will also be 500 metres longer than the current 2km pipe so it will discharge consented waste water further out to sea.
The onshore connection of the new pipe was completed last Wednesday and the reinstatement of the shoreline is expected to take until the end of July.
Robert Goodwill MP said: “It’s great to learn that the project is progressing well, and that the new pipe is now installed. This is welcomed investment into improving the coastline, which can only be a good thing for local tourism and recreational users.”