A major milestone has been reached on a £120 million water mains improvement project in East Ayrshire.

Contractor Caledonia Water Alliance (CWA) are working to improve the region's water supply network by installing more than 30 miles of new water mains to connect the Bradan water supply network to the network served by the Milngavie and Balmore water treatment works, north of Glasgow. Once finished, the investment will allow Scottish Water to transfer water from Glasgow to Ayrshire, and vice-versa if required.

As part of the project, CWA have successfully diverted a short stretch of the Craufurdland Water near Kilmarnock to enable them to install the water main beneath the river bed.

A 60 metre stretch of the permanent riverbed near Craufurdland Castle was allowed to run dry before workers could excavate and install the 900mm steel pipeline.

The work, which took about five days to complete, involved the excavation of a temporary channel which needed to be wide enough and deep enough to carry the volume of water that naturally flows along the watercourse. The channel was lined with a plastic sheeting to prevent the banks scouring away and to prevent any siltation of the downstream watercourse. In addition, straw bales and one tonne builders’ bulk bags filled with gravel acted as a barrier to redirect the watercourse in to the new channel that was excavated so that the water flow passed around the working area.

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Jane McKenzie, Scottish Water’s communications manager, said: "Scottish Water is working on the latest phase of a its £120m water mains project which will benefit so many people across much of Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire.

"However, as with every project large or small, we are acutely aware of our environmental responsibilities and the diversion of a stretch of the Craufurdland Water during this key phase of the project is a prime example of that.

"We liaised with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) for the formal consent and permission to cross the river and we used a tried and tested method of moving a watercourse temporarily to enable us to install the water main while minimising disruption to the river.

"We are delighted to say the operation was completed successfully, while protecting the fish in the river, and we are now continuing to progress with the pipe installation beyond the river."

Once completed, the new and expanded network will enable Scottish Water to provide customers with greater security of supply and to respond more effectively to operational issues such as burst water mains and minimise disruption to customers.

The construction of the new strategic water main is expected to be completed in 2020.

(LM)