Dry Weather Update

Water's Worth Saving

We’re asking for your help to reduce the water you use at home and use it wisely wherever possible. There are currently no restrictions from doing anything yet. If we all start now and work together we can help to reduce the chance of a temporary usage ban (hosepipe ban) from being implemented.

How you can help

• Use water wisely and minimise any usage where you can. Follow our summer water saving tips. Small changes can make a big difference. 
• Warm weather can cause ground movement which can lead to burst pipes. If you see what you think might be a leak, you can help us out by reporting a leak and we will do our best to get it fixed as soon as we can.
• Check your toilets for leaks. If you think you might have a leak, we may be able to fix it for free. You can report it here.

The current situation in Essex and Suffolk

Due to the prolonged hot weather, the total water levels are now lower than normal and the Environment Agency has moved the region into Drought status. We're working hard to make sure we balance maintaining supplies to all our customers while also protecting the environment.

While we’re in this period of prolonged exceptionally dry weather we're asking everyone to be careful about their water use so we can keep the water flowing to all of our customers. 

What we're doing 

We're doing our best to save water too:

• We are closely monitoring and carefully managing the situation with our water resources, as reservoir levels are lower than they would normally be at this time of year, preparing for every eventuality.
• We have increased resources and are making extra investments to achieve our best-ever performance in repairing leaks, including redeploying our employees to find and fix leaks as well as deploying new technology.
• We’ve suspending planned work so we can focus our efforts on fixing leaks across the region.

Hi All,

The lock was reopened to Essex Waterways as planned over the Easter Weekend. We have decommissioned majority of the large plant and equipment, however we will still have a presence on site in April/May 2018 while we finalise testing and commissioning of the sea lock gate and carry out reinstatement of the footpath local to the gate.

As always we Endeavour to keep disruption to a minimum. Please feel free to contact myself if required.

Adrian Caswell

07484547115

Hi All,

The Sea Lock Gate project is progressing well, with a planned reopening of the lock at the end of March 18, as originally planned.

Thank you to everyone for your patience and consideration.

I attach a few key photos of the sea gate and portal dam structure.

As always, if you have any questions please contact myself directly,

Adrian Caswell

07484547115

Project Manager ESW

Hi All,

As an update to the ongoing work at Heybridge, the cofferdam installation encountered unforeseen conditions and as a result the required depth to embed sheet piles was not achieved. We are currently exploring alternative solutions to achieve a dry lock scenario as soon as possible.

We are not anticipating any delays to the project at this time .I attach an image of the cofferdam for information.

I will provide an update as soon as the solution has been agreed. Please feel free to contact myself or a member of the team for further information.

Best regards,

Adrian Caswell
Project Manager
07484547115

Just one of the photos from our open event for heybridge. Thanks again to all that attended, including the ESW team

Afternoon Heybridge,

Just a quick note from me, Amanda Hunt (Essex and Suffolk Water Customer Care Manager) to say a huge thank you to those of you who were able to pop along and meet us in The Jolly Sailor on Monday. It was a great opportunity for our project team to meet the residents and I really enjoyed gaining some local knowledge of the area.

As Adrian mentions we will keep you informed on progress on a weekly basis so watch this space !

You can use the 'Contact us' button at the top of this page and when you see members of the team around please come and say Hello, they will be only too happy to answer any questions you may have.  

Amanda

https://essexandsuffolkwater.blob.core.windows.net/projects/2/HeybridgeSeaLock-WorksInformationNoticeAugust17.pdf

Good morning all,

Thank you to all that attended the open event yesterday, some excellent feedback, which we endeavor to take on board for the project this winter.

Currently we are due to arrive on site and set up as planned on the the 4th September 2017.

During the project phase I will provide weekly updates covering progress, programme status (key milestones), upcoming works and constraints.

Please do feel free to call me on the number below and I will be happy to provide clarifications as required.

Please do register if you have not done so already, as you will receive notifications when updates are available to view.

Best regards,

Adrian Caswell
Project Manager
Asset Delivery

Essex & Suffolk Water

07484547115

Good morning all

As you will have noticed over the past couple of weeks, we have been removing our site fencing and equipment with the re-opening of the lock.

This Thursday 20th April, we shall be removing our site cabins. There will be some traffic movements throughout the day with some vehicle access restrictions at times.

Please accept my apologies in advance for any disturbance caused. We shall endeavour to keep any disturbance to a minimum.  

Best regards

Ryan

Hi all

We have some concrete deliveries to the site this week to complete our installation of the new sea gate rail beams and new sealing plates. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and we are trying our best to minimise any disturbance.

Our final delivery is planned for this Friday 17th March between 1pm and 3pm.

We also have a crane arriving to remove the sheet piled cofferdam at the boat basin end of the lock on the 23rd and 24th March which may require temporary road closures at certain times. More detailed information will be sent out closer to these dates.

Thank you

Ryan

Hi all

This has been a very interesting and rewarding yet challenging project to work on and we have encountered some unexpected issues along the way. As you may have seen, we have successfully completed the new timber mitre gate installation.

We are still on programme to re-open the lock for the 31st March 17 but due to significant delays caused by the unexpected conditions, the new steel sea gate will now not be installed until the Winter of 2017, with a closure required starting from 2nd Oct 2017 and anticipated completion of mid December 2017.

The majority of works on either side of the lock are complete, and we will complete a full reinstatement of our working area. Our return visit will cause some disruption but we will of course try our very best to minimise this. To help reduce the impact of our work we plan to lift the new sea gate in by sea via a barge, rather than using a landside crane, which was required  for the timber gates.

We plan to provide further information of this construction phase of the project and the future plans in an open evening at Heybridge, date and venue to be confirmed but we are aiming for a date at the end of April 2017.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the residents and visitors of Heybridge for your patience and understanding of our works. We are fully committed to complete the project, improving the area and the facility of the Heybridge Lock.

Many thanks

Ryan