Mains laying running smoothly

The first phase of South East Water’s £300,000 scheme to install more than 500 metres of water main along the ring road in Canterbury is nearing completion.

Work in Pin Hill and Rhodaus Town started in March, and is necessary to supply water to the student accommodation being built next to Augustine House.

Delivery manager Chris Love said: “The location of our works had to be moved to the city wall side of the ring road due to utilities congestion in the bus lane on the Canterbury East Station side. This meant it was impossible to dig there without seriously encroaching on the main carriageway.

“Work is progressing well and we have successfully laid more than 300m of new water main, the majority of this being completed by directional drilling which has sped up the project.

“We now need to lay new pipeline across the dual carriageway to connect it to our existing network. This will be done at a later date and may involve night working to minimise disruption.”

Phase two of the work takes place in Castle Row and started on Monday.

The scheme is part of the company’s £424 million investment programme taking place between 2015 and 2020.