We’re building an underground shaft to hold storm water

To protect the environment and shellfish in Southampton Water.

The climate is changing, and we predict there will be more frequent and fierce storms. Therefore, to deal with future challenges, we need to ensure we have additional storage.

We’re going to build underground storage in the corner of Victoria Road car park. It will hold the storm water until the weather improves. Then we’ll pump it to Woolston Wastewater Treatment works to be processed. This will improve the quality of the water going into Southampton Water.

We need to dig a hole measuring about twenty-five metres wide and twenty metres deep. It will hold approximately five million litres – that is the same amount as two Olympic swimming pools!

We will build a new pipe that will run under Victoria Road from the storage area to the treatment site. The pipe will be installed by digging the ground as well as drilling. This will save time and cause you less disruption. 

There will be 2-way lights on Victoria Road near the junction with Swift Road for about three weeks, while we do this bit of work.

The storage area will be twenty-five metres wide and twenty metres deep. We must do the dig in stages safely. The construction techniques used are standard within the industry and will look to minimise the impact to the community. We will build the new pipe and storage at the same time.

No, we are sorry that we must close the whole car park and basketball court during the construction period to keep everyone safe.

Unfortunately, the EV charging points will not be available during the works. The nearest alternative charging points in Woolston are at:

 Woodley Road SO19 9DW,

Oakbank Road SO19 9DT

and The Colonnade SO19 2DJ.

We expect to start construction work in January 2023 and anticipate that we will complete it by Autumn 2024.

We plan to work Monday – Friday, 7.00am to 6.00pm. We do not expect to work at weekends. However, there may be times we may have to works during the weekend. We’ll notify the property owners adjacent to the construction site if we must work weekends. 

There will be noise when we do certain construction activities. We will limit such activities to daylight hours. We are going to put a solid, wooden hoarding around the site to try to minimise the noise.

Yes, some construction activities may cause vibration of the area. We have completed ground surveys in the area and will regularly monitor vibration levels during the work.

We have  been working with the Local Authority to find the safest route for vehicles to get to and from the construction site. They’ll follow a one-way system.

The number of construction vehicles will depend on the phase of the project. At its peak, there will be around 15 lorries, arriving and leaving the site each day. Peak duration will be for a period of 6 months. We will limit deliveries during the peak times (school run), 8.30am – 9.30am and 3pm – 4pm.

Yes, there will be mud generated because of vehicle movements. We will keep mud off the roads by having a wheel wash facility on site or using a road-sweeper.

Our staff will park at the treatment works so that we leave you as many spaces on the local roads as possible.

We’ll restore the car park and basketball court to their current condition.

We will cover the storm tank area in slabs which contain small cells. These are filled with soil and grass seeds, to blend in better with the surroundings.

The control units, next to the storm tank, will be green to help them blend in with surroundings too.

We plan to temporarily remove the green bunds and some plants adjacent to the carpark to make space is available while we do the construction work. We are working closely with environmental specialists at Southampton City Council to re-landscape the area appropriately when the work is completed.