£3.1m Thornton mains replacement scheme starts

Yorkshire Water has begun a £3.1m project to replace 4.6km of water mains in Thornton, to improve reliability of drinking water supply, reduce leakage, and prevent water main bursts in the area. 

The project began on Thornton Road at the junction with School Green and will see old pipework replaced with durable plastic piping along Thornton Road towards the junction with A644 Brighouse and Denholme Road. Mains will also be replaced on sections of Green Lane and Headley Lane. 

The work is part of Yorkshire Water’s £406m investment to replace more than 1,000km of water mains across the region by 2030. 

In Bradford, a number of mains replacement schemes have already been completed, including: a £1.5m project in Laisterdyke; a £700,000 project in Oakworth; and a £335,000 project in Lower Wyke. In April, a £1.5m scheme in Keighley and a £780,000 scheme in Bingley also got underway. 

Scott Gammon, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “As part of Yorkshire Water’s largest ever investment into its infrastructure, we are delivering a significant upgrade to our clean water network.  We’re targeting areas that are most prone to leaks and bursts so that we can deliver the quality and reliability of service that our customers expect – and that means a huge amount of investment into Bradford.” 

For the safety of residents, road users, and colleagues, temporary traffic management is in place around the working area, which will move as work progresses. Local residents have been informed of localised disruption.  

Scott added: “We’ll be working quickly and doing everything that we can to keep disruption to a minimum whilst we deliver this important work.”  

Contract partners Sapphire Utility Solutions are expected to take around a year to complete the project – the latter stages of which are still in planning.  

Nearby, a new water main is being installed as part of Yorkshire Water’s drought resilience planning. The £4.5m investment is building a new main to connect Keighley to an additional water source in Thornton Moor to reduce the risk of supply interruptions during drought conditions. Additional information on the scheme can be found on the utility's website.