One of the largest water infrastructure jobs in the UK will go ahead after United Utilities signed an agreement for a £3 billion pound refurbishment of a key pipeline supplying water from Cumbria to 2.5 million customers in northwest England.
Cascade Infrastructure will deliver the project to upgrade the Haweswater aqueduct which brings water from the Lake District to Manchester
“We are rebuilding the water network from the ground up through one of the largest infrastructure projects ever seen in Britain,” Water Minister Emma Hardy said in a statement.
The 110 kilometre long Haweswater aqueduct is nearly 70 years old and uses gravity to deliver 570 million litres of water daily to Cumbria, Lancashire, and Greater Manchester.
Construction by Cascade Infrastructure, which has delivered similar tunnelling schemes in Europe, is expected to start in 2026 and will see six tunnel sections replaced, United Utilities said.
