Civil engineering and infrastructure firm Barhale has been appointed to deliver an £18m stormwater management scheme at  at Walton-on-the-Naze on the Essex coast.

The project form part of Anglian Water’s ongoing programme to improve resilience within its network and will provide additional protection to the Essex coast against severe weather conditions.

The scheme involves the construction of a new 5,000m³ storm tank and associated tunnelling works adjacent to the existing Walton-on-the-Naze terminal pumping station.

Work will be delivered through Anglian Water’s @one Alliance, the strategic delivery vehicle for Anglian Water’s Integrated Main Works programme, with civil engineering, MEICA and infrastructure specialist Barhale acting in the role of principal contractor for the scheme.

The new storm tank will feature an innovative “pill shaped” design to avoid the course of an existing aquifer. It will be connected to an existing storm tank through a new 84m long, 1,200mm pipeline which will be constructed using concrete jacking pipes through microtunnelling.

Dan Ledger, Barhale’s project manager, explained that the Environment Agency and Anglian Water had conducted investigations and tracer studies identifying the need for additional storage.

“It would help to ensure that the stormwater capacity at the sewage pumping station was not overwhelmed in extreme weather conditions,” he said.

“The upgrades will provide a major boost to site storage capacity, helping to protect the environment and bathing water quality.”

Completion is scheduled for November 2027.

Anglian Water’s @one Alliance is formed of eight partner organisations: Anglian Water, Balfour Beatty, Barhale, Binnies, Mott MacDonald Bentley, MWH Treatment, Skanska and Sweco.