An announcement has been made that plans for the creation of a new network on sewers beneath the feet of the residents of Glasgow should provide additional flood protection against damaging flooding in the future.
The £100 million project will see construction of a new three-mile waste water tunnel running from Queen’s Park and Craigton industrial estate via Pollok and Bellahouston parks.
It forms part of a wider £250 million, five-year programme of improvements to the city’s sewerage network that is being undertaken by Scottish Water.
As a result, property owners across the city will aim to see an end to their risk of flooding by 2017, as the new tunnel will be large enough to fit a double-decker bus inside and will be five times longer than the Clyde Tunnel – connecting the districts of Whiteinch and Govan in the west of the city.
Over recent years, more than 100 properties have been regularly flooded during periods of heavy rainfall in a number of parts of Glasgow – most notably near Bagabout Burn in Giffnoc – but this latest investment will aim to see this issue come to an end.
It will carry both surface and waste water away from properties above and store it beneath the streets in sufficient quantities to alleviate any risk of future flooding in the area, allowing the sewer system to better cope with periods of prolonged and heavy rainfall.
The tunnel will be built using a specially-designed boring machine – much like the one employed in the construction of the Channel Tunnel between Dover and Calais – with engineers set to connect the new underground structure to the rest of the city’s sewer system at Craigton industrial estate.
Geoff Aitkenhead, Scottish Water’s asset management director, commented: “The Shieldhall tunnel will resolve large-scale water quality problems in the River Clyde and its tributaries, provide aesthetic screening to overflows into watercourses – such as tributaries of the Clyde and White Cart Water – and reduce the risk of flooding in Aikenhead Road and Curtis Avenue in Mount Florida and Robslee Drive, Robslee Road, Robslee Crescent and Orchard Park Avenue in Giffnock.
“The tunnel will increase capacity and alleviate pressure on the existing network by providing additional storm water storage.”
Work on the site is expected to get underway early next year and has been scheduled for completion by 2017.
Property owners living across the UK in flood risk areas should consider taking out a policy to provide peace of mind that in the event of flooding in their area, they will not be hit by large repair bills to their home.
The expert team at GSI Insurance Services (Southern) Limited provides comprehensive insurance for flood risk areas that can make the headache of having one’s belongings and property damaged in flooding kept to a minimum.
Flooding can be a difficult time for all homeowners and therefore here at GSI Insurance Services (Southern) Limited we aim to make the aftermath of such an event as stress-free as possible.
