We carry out hundreds of projects every year to keep the communities we work in safe and warm. Mike Dongworth is our Engineering Manager for Southern Transmission Maintenance Projects and recently worked with Thames Water on remediating a pipe bridge.
Here’s Mike’s story of how the project came about.
A couple of months ago I shared a story about the delivery of one of our projects in Wimbledon where we needed to remove a large diameter pipe from a road bridge crossing over railway lines. It showed the complexities we encountered during the works together with the collaborative approach required to ensure its safe and efficient delivery.
You can read about that story here.
Our team recently encountered a different type of project which we were able to deliver despite some similar challenges.
We own and operate a 12” steel Intermediate Pressure (IP) pipe that crosses the River Wey via a pipe bridge that we share with Thames Water in Shalford, Surrey. A survey identified that the pipe coating was in poor condition and we were tasked with recoating it, along with replacing some pipe supporting frames.
After inspecting the pipes and bridge structure, we quickly realised they were also in need of repair. We spoke to Thames Water and suggested that we work collaboratively to remediate the bridge and all the pipes crossing it.
Thames Water agreed in principle and following many weeks of legal negotiations, SGN and Thames Water entered into a cost sharing agreement. This meant that we were able to significantly reduce the costs for both parties of maintaining the integrity of both pipes. It’s a great example of how, by working collaboratively with other stakeholders, costs can be saved and bring value for our customers.
We also involved and sought agreement from other stakeholders, such as Canal Trust, National Trust, Network Rail and other landowners. Once everyone was in agreement with our plans, we set about completing the project with our contractor.
Being located over water, the project took eight weeks to complete and its complexity was captured in the timelapse footage above.
Between our Projects team, our legal department and a safe, committed contractor, the project was delivered on time, on budget and with no impact on the environment.
