Archive: Welsh Water works on the Meadows 2020/21
In November 2020, Andy Ingham brought to attention a sewage leak on The Meadows. As a result, Welsh Water had to enact emergency works in the Welsh Water sewer that crosses under the Meadows. Contractors were on there for 24 hours a day and Stephanie Hefferan, our Greenspace Officer kept us up to date with what was happening
11 November 2020
- Sewer pipeline – this has now been successfully repaired. A bespoke collar was manufactured and welded into place to address the leak – work took a little longer than hoped due to the very high water table on the site making it difficult to access the leak for assessment and subsequent repairs.
- Re-instatement – contractors will remain on site for the remainder of this week to remove all equipment and repair/re-instate any ground damage caused by the works – this may lead into next week depending on delivery of materials for repairs etc. These works were identified at a site meeting between myself, the contractors and Welsh Water.
- Safety fencing of leak area – for public safety the metal safety fencing will need to remain on site for up to 9months (it is hoped to be sooner). The fencing must remain whilst the area is monitored for ground subsidence/ sinking – this is due to the very wet nature of the area and the potential for possible issues if/when the site floods (following heavy rainfall etc) making it difficult to fully predict how the ground will behave. The contractors will remain responsible for the maintenance and security of the fencing throughout.
- Follow up WW works – following completion of re-instatement, a small team from WW will attend site to survey and inspect the other pipelines in the area to ensure there is no excessive sediment following the works. Any remedial actions required eg flushing of the sediment will be low key and will have no impact on the site – this is a routine operation.
The groundworks are taking longer than hoped due to the high water table in places causing issues in relaying the path, so the works will continue on.
On Monday (23rd November), Severn Trent will be bringing a crane on site to replace a failed bandscreen (filter).
The path works will continue once the crane has left the site on Monday
2nd February 2021
On 2nd February Andy spotted another possible leak when he saw water is bubbling up to the surface inland from the landing stage.
Steph Hefferan, the Greenspace Officer responded quickly and reported that she attended site the next morning and had been in contact with the WW team who responded very swiftly.
They described two areas as small blowholes from possible small leaks in the storm water drain – this is a separate drain to the sewer drain that had issues last time. When water is high it pumps through the drain and that is whybubbling of water from the leak areas was noticed. As the water is now lower, this is why there is no bubbling water at the moment.
They have had a team on site for a couple of days to assess whether the leaks can be patched or whether the section will need replacing. Consequently, until these investigations have been carried out they can not say how long/how big the project will be; they are hoping that patches will be required which they can take care of more easily and quickly than a full section replacement that will require contractors, in any instance, they are confident that it will not be as ‘big of a job’ as the recent sewer leak.
8th February 2021
Over the weekend, the pipe was dug out and assessed for the work needed. The issues on the pipe were investigated and works identified to rectify the issue. The leak points are minor but require new fittings; these were being sought over the weekend and are due for delivery later today. Works to fit the new collars will begin first thing tomorrow (9th Feb).
During the works they will also be taking time to investigate the overall integrity of the pipe so they have a better idea of the reasons behind these issues and help them prevent further issues going into the future.
If all goes well, the works should be completed by the end of the week with re-instatement of grounds etc going into next week. For public and contractor safety, access to the entrance at Lower Park Road and the central path will remain restricted on an occasional basis as and when they require to bring in/remove their machinery to/from the site – signs will be placed on site with WW staff support as and when required. The remaining access points will remain open to the public.
12th February 2021
The works are completed and re-instatement is due to start over the weekend (13/14 Feb). These will probably run into w/c 22 Feb but they are hoping to finish before then. However the freezing ground may delay repairs. The fencing on site is there for H&S reasons (same as the previous works), and it has been agreed that they will remove these at a later date – usually around 12months once the ground has fully settled.
8th April 2021
Our Greenspace Officer, Stephanie Hefferan has given us this update on 8th April 2021:
You may recall that due to weather conditions, the contractors for Welsh Water had to do a temporary fix to the paths until the ground conditions improved. The contractors are now planning to come back to complete the re-instatement the final weekend of April (24/25) – this may alter depending on the weather, and the dates are liable to be changed at short notice.
7th May 2021
Welsh Water has announced that the reinstatement works scheduled for the weekend (8th & 9th May) are now moved to Monday 10th to avoid the forecasted heavy rain. The work will be monitored and inspected by myself and Welsh Water.