United Utilities has started work on a major sewer improvement scheme in Trafford Park, Manchester. Gloria, a 140 tonne tunnel boring machine, has begun digging beneath Trafford Park as part of a project to improve the water quality in the Manchester Ship Canal.
Gloria is being used to dig a 700m tunnel to increase capacity in London’s Victorian sewerage system. Underground chambers big enough to swallow an 11-storey block of flats have been dug at Fraser Place and Europa Way. Gloria will be used to connect these chambers to the tunnel.
The entire system will work together to store 17,800m3 of dirty water during storm conditions. This water, which would otherwise overflow into the Manchester Ship Canal, will be taken away for treatment after storms.
United Utilities’ Senior Project Manager, David Baines, said: “Two of Manchester’s arterial Victorian sewers run through the site on the way to Davyhulme wastewater treatment works. Our project will bring these sewer up to modern standards with enough capacity to meet the demands of the growing city. It is good news for the area and the fish and wildlife in the ship canal.”
The Trafford Park sewer scheme is one of six similar projects in the area being undertaken by United Utilities, worth more than £90m collectively.
