Thames Water has appointed Barhale to deliver a £12.5mM programme of statutory tunnel inspection and maintenance across key infrastructure.

The contract includes work on the Thames Water Ring Main (TWRM) and North London Abstraction and New River Zone raw water assets.

The projects, awarded under the AMP8 Tunnels and Aqueducts programme, will also include the production tunnels within Thames Water’s treatment works, bringing the total length of tunnels under inspection to almost 48km.

“This programme involves complex work in confined spaces and live water environments,” said Steve Best, senior project manager at Barhale. “We have developed inspection and isolation processes with Thames Water over more than 20 years, and they are designed to keep our teams safe while maintaining reliable operation of the network.

“We are proud of our safety record and continue to improve how we manage risk through the introduction of a new confined space working training regime. It imposes new site entry controls and will see all operatives qualified to the highest level.

“Our double isolation protocol, developed with Thames Water, also ensures that there is an additional layer of protection for teams working near live tunnel sections.” 

Barhale will complete minor repairs, including mortar repairs, leak sealing and resin injection and replace or repair access furniture such as ladders, landing platforms and covers. Specialist diving teams will complete repairs to inlet screens, eel screens and carry out external shaft repairs. Major repair requirements will be identified and taken forward for appropriate action.

The final inspections will be conducted by Thames Water Reservoir Engineering teams. Barhale will also replace nine large diameter valves under the programme.