NI Water complete £1.6 million investment to maintain reservoirs

NI Water is pleased to announce the completion of a wide range of refurbishments, including general safety improvements to several reservoirs throughout Northern Ireland including Altnahinch in Loughguile.
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Sep 2012, 13:44 BST

Initially, £600,000 was invested in safety improvements at the following locations: Altnahinch (Loughguile), Ben Crom (Kilkeel), Boomers (Lisburn), Fofanny (Mournes), Knockbracken (Belfast), Lough Island Reavy (Castlewellan), Lower Ballysallagh (Bangor), Silent Valley (Mournes), Altmore (Dungannon), Clay Lake (Keady) and Glenhordial (Omagh).

This project was successfully completed by NI Water with Mills Contracts as the main contractor.

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In addition to this, a £250,000 project was also recently completed to improve and maintain Spelga Dam in the Mourne Mountains. This included upgrading the pipework, installing new valves and repairs to the roof of the valve house.

Finally, £750,000 was invested in the refurbishment/replacement of valves which are used to control the flow of water from the impounding reservoirs and the refurbishment/replacement of intake screens at the following locations: Killylane (Ballyclare), Altnahinch (Loughguile), Seagahan (Armagh), Glenhordial (Omagh), Ben Crom (Kilkeel) and Creightons Green (Holywood).

Graham Construction was the contractor for both these schemes, with URS Scott Wilson providing design and project management support for all the above schemes.

Mark Richardson, NI Water Project Manager explains: “This programme of work demonstrates NI Water’s ongoing commitment to maintain and improve our reservoirs whilst employing industry best practice with regards to reservoir management. We continue to review all our sites on an ongoing basis in order to implement the latest safety and security measures.

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“These improvements will develop the operational, structural and safety conditions at each site. Some examples of the general refurbishment and improvements made at the above sites include: the installation of additional drains, improved inspection chambers and access points, provision of means of lowering the reservoir water levels in emergency, general repairs to the dams and their associated structures, refurbishment or replacement of valves and the provision of access roads.”

It is anticipated that a third programme of improvements to an additional 17 reservoirs will get underway in April 2013.

Related topics:NI WaterNorthern IrelandKilkeelOmagh