£529,000 mains replacement project underway in West Yorkshire villages

Yorkshire Water has begun a £529,000 project to replace over 1.5km of water mains in the West Yorkshire villages of Shelley, Shelley Woodhouse, and Kirkburton.  

The mains will be replaced to improve reliability of drinking water supply, reduce leakage and prevent water main bursts in the villages. The work is part of Yorkshire Water’s £406m investment to replace more than 1,000km of water mains across the region over the next five years. 

Shaun Chapman, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “As part of Yorkshire Water’s largest ever investment, we are delivering a significant upgrade to our clean water network by replacing 238km of mains in Yorkshire over the next 12 months. In the Kirklees district, over 10km of mains will be replaced over six projects this year.” 

“The scheme across Shelley, Shelley Woodhouse and Kirkburton will help us to deliver the quality and reliability of service that our customers expect – with bursts and loss of supply much less likely.” 

As part of the project, contract partners Galliford Try and Heffernan Utilities are replacing a 479m section of pipe on Huddersfield Road between Field End Farm and Shelley College.   

For the safety of colleagues, residents, and road users, there are temporary two-way traffic lights in place around the working area. This section will take between three and four weeks to complete.  

From 20th to 22nd August, there will be three way traffic lights on Huddersfield Road at the junction with Shelley Woodhouse Lane. Following this, there will be a road closure on Shelley Woodhouse Lane to allow for the replacement of 488m of pipe. The closure will move as work progresses.  

Work is expected to complete in mid-September.  

Shaun added: “We’ll be working quickly and doing everything that we can to keep disruption to a minimum whilst we deliver this important work. We thank everyone in the area for their patience in advance.” 

Yorkshire Water recently began a £462,000 mains replacement in nearby Kirkheaton, where 1km of pipework is being replaced.