UU names preferred bidder for tunnel rebuild

Strabag Equitix Consortium will design, build and maintain six replacement sections of United Utilities’ 68-mile Haweswater Aqueduct, a key part of its £2.9bn upgrade.

The project is part of UU’s HARP – Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme – scheme.

The original aqueduct, started in the 1930s and completed in the 1950s, supplies water from the Lake District to communities in Cumbria, Lancashire and Greater Manchester.

UU’s chosen partnership brings together Austrian civil engineering group Strabag, a tunnelling specialist headquartered in Vienna; and Equitix, a developer, investor and fund manager focusing on infrastructure.

HARP involves working with a number of councils. Credit: UU

Established in 2007, Equitix has offices in London and Glasgow.

Replacing these six sections will, said UU, ensure a resilient supply of quality drinking water for future generations.

At an estimated construction cost of around £2.5 to £2.9bn, HARP will be one of the largest water infrastructure projects undertaken in the North West.

After carrying out investigative work in 2019, UU went out to consultation in spring 2020, with nine planning applications then submitted to seven different local planning authorities.

The project is being delivered through a direct procurement for customers model, with the utilities giant reporting this, the first time the model has been used in the UK water sector, will provide best value for customers.

The procurement process is now in its final stage of financial close, with contract award planned for the first half of 2025, subject to consent from regulator Ofwat.

Neil Gillespie, transformation and strategic programmes director at United Utilities, said: “This is a significant milestone in our journey to replace the Haweswater Aqueduct tunnels so that we can continue to provide customers in the North West with a reliable supply of quality drinking water into the future.

“This is the culmination of a lot of hard work from a dedicated team, and we are really pleased to have now established our preferred bidder.”