Community and environment

During the planning of the Ring Main extensions, potential environmental impacts of the project have been identified and where possible, mitigated within the design.

Minimising the impact of the project

For example as with the original Ring Main, the tunnel designs allow for large quantities of water to be moved under gravity thus avoiding energy intensive pumping and its associated greenhouse gas emissions.

As with any large infrastructure project, there are temporary environmental impacts that will occur during construction of the Ring Main extensions.

These include noise and traffic movements associated with the tunnelling operations, removal of excavated material and deliveries of tunnel lining materials.

We are seeking to minimise these impacts through the selection of appropriate construction methods and working hours, and by gaining local knowledge through consultation with the relevant councils and other local groups.

Community relations

During the construction of the two extensions to the Ring Main we will keep our customers up to date with what's going on.

Regular public drop-in sessions are to be held along both routes where anyone can attend to find out what will be happening in their neighbourhood or just for general information.

We'll also be keeping this website updated with the latest news.

Although the two extensions are both about 4.7km long we're doing everything possible to minimise the impact on people living where we're working.