Black & Veatch Celebrates Completion of £80 Million Project

Roger Gale, MP (member of Parliament), and Stephen Ladyman, MP, officially marked the completion of Southern Water’s Margate and Broadstairs scheme at the new Weatherlees Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) in Kent County, on the eve of Kent Coastal Week last month. The scheme was a joint venture between Black & Veatch (B&V) and Costain to enhance coastal water quality off the Isle of Thanet.

The Margate and Broadstairs Project is one of the largest in Southern Water’s AMP4 program. The scheme will provide cleaner seas for the Kent resorts’ bathers and a better aquatic environment for marine life. Treatment for the towns’ wastewater now includes ultraviolet disinfection, which provides additional protection for local shellfish populations.

Ladyman, MP for Thanet South, said: “This scheme is so important for the local area and knowing the water released to our seas is now treated to such high standards means we can be even prouder of our beautiful coastline here in Thanet. Southern Water and their contractors should be congratulated for their hard work.”

In addition to constructing the new WWTW at Weatherlees, the project included refurbishing pumping stations in Margate and Broadstairs, construction of a sea outfall and laying 24 km of new pipes.

Black & Veatch was responsible for the scheme’s civil design and mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, controls and automation (MEICA) design and MEICA contracting. The project team employed multiphased design and construction practices to keep work to program and budget.

Commenting on the project, Bruce Ainsworth, managing director of Black & Veatch’s water business in Europe, said: “This is truly a measure of what can be done by a strong team working together toward a common goal of delivering a sustainable solution that benefits an entire coastal area. It is a great accomplishment and a credit to everyone involved.”

Keith Jeffery, Southern Water’s Project Manager, said: “Southern Water and its contractors Black & Veatch/Costain are pleased to have completed this important scheme which is already bringing significant environmental benefits to the Thanet coast. We would like to thank the people of Thanet for their patience and cooperation during these very visible works.”

The scope of the Margate and Broadstairs Project includes:

• Major refurbishment to headworks in both Margate and Broadstairs;

• 13,000 cu m of additional storm capacity, working inside a Victorian structure forming part of the cliff face;

• 7 cu m per second storm screening and pumping capacity;

• 809 liters per second at 809 l/s 72 m head transfer pumping capacity.

Picture: Georgia Penney, a pupil from Newington Junior School, at the completion ceremony. Two years ago, she named the tunnel boring machine for the scheme, “Crystal,” as in crystal clear water for Margate and Broadstairs.

Source: Black & Veatch