£7m South Belfast Flood Scheme Complete

A £7 million flood alleviation scheme in South Belfast has been successfully completed by NI Water.

The project, benefitting the Ravenhill Avenue area, was delivered as part of the Living With Water in Belfast Plan which aims to help protect against flooding, enhance the water environment and provide the increased capacity needed for economic growth.

Some sewers in this part of South Belfast date back to the early 1900's and were in very poor condition, and this essential project will improve the sewers, whilst significantly reducing the risk of 'out-of-sewer' flooding and environmental pollution in the area. The project has also removed approximately 9 hectares of stormwater from the combined sewerage network, the equivalent of 12 football pitches! allowing it to return directly to the River Lagan.

David McClean, NI Water's Senior Project Manager said: "We are delighted to announce the completion of this major flood alleviation project for the Ravenhill Avenue area, which will bring many improvements to our customers including reduced flood risk and enhanced sewerage infrastructure.

"This has been a very challenging project, working in a built-up busy residential area and dealing with existing infrastructure that is more than 100 years old.

"Through this project we have constructed 1,500m of new sewers to protect properties from the risk of out-of-sewer flooding.

"We have been on site for more than two years, and we really do appreciate the continued patience and understanding of the local community.

"The project team including contractor GEDA and AECOM has really enjoyed working with the local community including local schools, churches and community groups and we trust that the community will benefit from the new infrastructure for many years to come."

Project highlights include the engineering challenges of tunnelling a section of large diameter sewer 6 metres beneath Ravenhill Road. Local schoolchildren named the tunnelling machine "Timmy the Tunneller". The project team including GEDA, AECOM and various sub-contractors attained the Considerate Constructor Scheme's highest score of 'Excellent'.