The following press release was issued to publicise the Western Aqueduct Project, the largest water supply project in the city's history, which is designed to boost the supply of water to the eThekwini Municipal area. The release is as received, but with the contact phone numbers removed. Allan Jackson.

	Pictured is Claire Blanche, Lead Environmental Scientist for Knight Piésold Consulting, in front of a pipe with a diameter of 1.4m which will be used in the Western Aqueduct Project.
	The picture shows the pipe yard in Camperdown, where to the left, the site office is visible. <== Click images to view enlargements.

The Western Aqueduct Project -
eThekwini’s solution to meet the growing demands of water

The Western Aqueduct project is an enormous venture, with a rand value exceeding R800million and is the largest water project ever commissioned by eThekwini’s Water and Sanitation to date  

In recent years the unprecedented growth in water demand in the Western Supply Areas has led to infrastructure capacity problems with the existing pipelines. These existing pipelines were constructed in the late 1960’s.   In addition, the demand for water in the outer west areas increased further as people migrated to suburbs just west of the greater Durban area.

Ntuzuma and Inanda were also areas within the greater Durban area that had a steady influx of people which contributed to the increase in water consumption and attributed to the demand on an already pressurised water system.

eThekwini Water and Sanitation began investigating possible solutions to solve the problem and meet the demands for water. The optimum solution was the construction of a new bulk pipeline from Umlaas Road, to supply the growing need and assist the supply of water in the greater Durban area. 

The route of the Western Aqueduct project is generally parallel to the N3, starting at Umlaas Road up to Inchanga where it diverts away from the N3 to traverse to Drummond, Assegai and Hillcrest. It will then follow in close proximity to the M13 Freeway through Everton and Kloof heading towards Ntuzuma via Wyebank, branching through New Germany to Mount Moriah and also with a feed through Haygarth Road in Kloof heading to Tshelimnyama. En route, this pipeline will supply water in bulk to over eight Strategic Bulk Water Distribution Reservoir sites that serve the Western Areas.

The Western Aqueduct Project is made up of two engineering phases. Phase One stretches from Umlaas Road to the Inchanga Railway Station and construction of this Phase is currently in progress. The total distance of Phase One is approximately 20km.

Phase Two will begin construction in the early part of 2010. It will stretch from the Inchanga Railway Station to the three terminal reservoirs namely Ntuzuma, Mount Moriah and Tshelimnyama. The total distance of Phase Two is approximately 55km. 

The pipeline will comprise of sections of steel pipe between 1 and 1.6 metres in diameter and 18m in length. Where the route of this project follows roads, this will inevitably mean road closures for the duration of the construction which will significantly affect the accessibility to the properties bordering the route. The Engineering teams of this JV Project are very sensitive to the impact that work such as this will have on residents and commuters on this route. Extreme attention is being given to mitigate the impact that will inevitably be experienced by such a magnitude of work.   

“The Western Aqueduct Project is very sensitive to the impact it has on the environment and a highly skilled and experienced team of dedicated environmentalists within Knight Piésold Consulting are constantly evaluating and monitoring the progress of the Western Aqueduct Project,” continued Copley.

A Public participation process for EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) was undertaken two years ago and an ongoing public relations process for residents and affected parties is in place.

The project will be undertaken by the Western Aqueduct Joint Venture comprising three companies, Knight Piésold Consulting, Naidu Consulting and Stewart Scott International (SSI), acting as eThekwini Water and Sanitation’s agents on this project.

“Once this project is complete, it will boost the reliability of potable water in the Western Areas and alleviate the interruptions of service to consumers in the region. Considering the magnitude of such a venture through densely developed areas, a  certain amount of inconvenience is expected. This is inevitable. However, every practical measure is being utilised to mitigate the impact of such a magnitude of work.” concluded Copley.

Ends

This release has been circulated on behalf of the Western Aqueduct Joint Venture

For more information contact:

Andrew Copley - Project Manager
Val Govender of Shirley Williams Communications

THE WESTERN AQUEDUCT

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

What is the Western Aqueduct?
The Western Aqueduct is a bulk water supply project commissioned by eThekwini Water and Sanitation.  Environmental Permission to construct this pipeline was given by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs in a Record of Decision (RoD) dated 24 October 2008. This decision was made public by way of advertisements which were placed in the Natal Mercury (03 November 2008), The Isolezwe (03November 2008), The Witness (10 November 2008) and The Highway Mail (10 November 2008) by the Knight Piésold – Naidu Consulting Joint Venture who are acting as eThekwini Municipality’s agents on this project.

How big is it?
Phase 1 of the project extends from the Umlaas Road Reservoir to Inchanga Railway Station and construction of Phase One commenced on 12 January 2009. It is scheduled to be completed in November 2010. Construction phase of Phase 2, which runs from the Inchanga Railway Station, to Mount Moriah, Ntuzuma and Tshelimnyama is planned to commence early in 2010. The pipeline comprises sections of steel pipe, between 1m and 1.6m in diameter and 18m in length. They are welded together and installed within Municipal reserves with a depth of 1m.
 
How was the route selected?
Two major criteria used to select the route were:
a) To construct as much of it as possible within existing registered water pipeline servitudes.
b) To design the pipeline where it operates without the need for pump stations.  Given the energy shortages which currently exist in South Africa and how critical water is for our daily needs, the problems associated with pumps going out of action as a result of power outages could not be contemplated in this magnitude of project and in addition, the high cost of energy is avoided.

How will it be installed?
To install pipes of these dimensions it is necessary to excavate a trench at least 3m wide and between 3m and 4m deep and, in order to accommodate pipe-laying machinery, such as cranage during construction, it is necessary to have a working corridor which, in places, maybe up to 30m wide. Obviously, where the route traverses the residential areas, road closures will be necessary.
Road surfaces will be completely excavated for the installation of the pipes. As the pipes are laid, the reinstatement of the construction corridor will take place. The existing roads, curbs, and verges will be reconstructed to a brand new condition equal to or better than originally encountered. There will be ongoing publicity and public relations with residents and commuters to advise proposed road closures and recommended alternate routes.

The Construction Corridor

Where construction of this magnitude is taking place, from a public safety point of view, it will be necessary to barricade the construction area to unauthorized people. To this end the sections under construction located along Municipal Roads will be fenced off from access to the general public and domestic animals. Provisions will be made where practically possible for pedestrian traffic.
Signage and controlled gated access to the construction site is envisaged for the general public and animals especially in areas of deep excavation and major construction.
Where the construction traverses small holdings that house farm animals, the corridor will be fenced off to prevent access to animals. Where blasting of rock is necessary, special attention is given to affected residents who have pets such as horses for the relocation of these animals to minimize trauma and panic to the animals.
Where construction traverses residential and developed areas, it’s the requirement of the contractor that no labour is housed where construction is taking place for security and safety reasons. In order to mitigate the impact on residents, it is envisaged that generally, no construction will take place on Saturdays, Sundays and Public holidays. No work will take place after 18h00 unless it’s necessary for safety reasons.

The Pipeline traverses areas that are environmentally sensitive and in these cases the construction corridor is restricted to a narrow width to minimize the impact on sensitive areas that are being traversed. The Project Team have engaged Environmental Specialists to identify and assess which sections of the route are environmentally sensitive from a biodiversity and heritage point of view. Special measures are in place to deal with endangered plants, animals and sites of historical interest that need to be preserved. Endangered plants have been identified on site by environmental specialists and the rehabilitation process will require that such plant species be rescued ahead of excavation works and replanted once the construction activities in the area have been completed.
Similarly, where Red Data Species are encountered, the pipeline routes are deviated wherever practically possible to preserve these species. Where Heritage Sites have been encountered the proposed construction works are amended to avoid impacting on those sites.

Conclusion