29 July 2009
Water engineers are piping up for Kendal - by changing the proposed route of a brand new water main to avoid disrupting the town centre.
Starting in September, United Utilities needs to install a brand new 1.1km water main from one side of the town to the other to help meet Kendal's increasing demand for water.
The new pipeline will also modernise supplies to 2,000 homes in The Heights area of the town. These homes are currently fed by Kendal Fell service reservoir, which is nearing the end of its operational life and will soon be decommissioned.
Project engineer Paul Wheadon said the £500,000 scheme was originally due to start last year and follow Aynam Road, Miller Bridge and the High Street, but after careful consideration in conjunction with highways chiefs engineers had re-designed it for a completely different route.
"This is an extremely important scheme to make sure people in Kendal have the high quality drinking water they need, but coming so closely after other disruptive utility work in the town centre we felt it was better to see if we could find another way which would cause much less upheaval."
Now the first phase of the scheme will skirt the town centre through parts of Kirkbarrow, using mainly residential streets.
Engineers and customer liaison representatives are planning two information events for residents nearer the start date. The dates and venues wil be publicised in advance.
Work will last approximately three months. It starts on September 21 on Romney Bridge before moving quickly into Park Avenue, then West Street, Glebe Road, Anchorite Fields, Gillingate and Bankfield Road.
A further phase of work to renew a kilometre of existing water mains and service pipes in the Beast Banks and Greenside areas will take place in the new year.
Added Paul: "We know whereever we dig is bound to cause inconvenience to people but we hope that by keeping them informed and working as efficiently as possible we can keep this to a minimum.
"We need to retire Kendal Fell Reservoir, which is also sometimes known as Golf Tank because it is in woodland near the golf course. This sectional steel tank is old, it has reached the end of its lifespan and it's also too small for the amount of water this part of Kendal needs."
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