27/09/2024
Road in Derbyshire town reopens a month ahead of schedule – after closing for water main upgrades
By Tom Hardwick
Trainee reporter
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Published 20th Sep 2024, 09:41 BST
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Severn Trent has completed works to upgrade water mains in Matlock a month ahead of schedule, meaning that a road closure on Smedley Street has also been lifted earlier than expected.
The works – which included the installation of 1km of new water pipes – were carried out by McAndrews. They are part of a £22m package of network improvements that Severn Trent is making throughout the Derwent Valley.
Christina Massey, community communications officer at Severn Trent, said: “Our contractor, McAndrews, have made amazing progress on this job and have completed the works a month ahead of schedule. This means that we can reopen Smedley Street much earlier than we first thought. “These works represent a really important upgrade to the local water network and will mean that people are far less likely to be inconvenienced by an interruption to their water supply, or lower than normal pressure.”
Due to the location of the pipes that have been replaced, a series of road closures have been in place since works started in July. Christina added: “We absolutely understand just how disruptive and inconvenient roadworks can be and we only over request a road closure when it’s necessary. We’d like to thank the local community for their patience and understanding while we completed this important network upgrade.” Seamus McAndrew, water utilities director at McAndrews Utilities, added: “We would like to thank all parties who have been involved in the Matlock project: Derbyshire County Council Highways for the collective working on Old Hackney Lane where some drainage work was undertaken within our road closure, local bus companies for moving the bus stops, Parish Councillors, the local residents and businesses for being so accommodating and understanding throughout the scheme. “The McAndrew Utilities teams did a fantastic job to complete the project so far ahead of schedule. This was achieved by the collaborative approach and organisation between Severn Trent Water and McAndrew Utilities, disruption to residents was always kept to a minimum, and at times this meant seven days working as a mitigation strategy.”
Water pipes naturally degrade as they age, and the new replacements will significantly reduce instances of bursts or leaks which can affect customer supply.
