Engineers constructing a £155m pipeline that will support and protect water supplies for 200,000 people across the south of the North East are preparing for work on a busy County Durham road.
Northumbrian Water’s Project Pipeline: County Durham and Tees Valley will see a total of 57km of new water mains laid from Lartington to Gainford, and across to Shildon and Long Newton.
Work is due to start on the last part of the project’s 32km first phase that will impact road users.
This involves crossing the A688 west of Town Pasture Lane at Stainton Grove, Barnard Castle.
While the majority of the work will be carried out under three-way lights, the crossing will require a weekend closure of the road. This will be in place from 7pm on Friday 13 September, to 6am on Monday 16 September.
During this time, the team will be working extended hours to make as much progress as possible within that closure.
The traffic lights will be in operation either side of the closure dates, from 9 September to 20 September.
An official diversion route, approved by Durham County Council and designed to use roads of the same size or larger, will be signposted, and advance notices will be in place for two weeks ahead of the closure. These will point people travelling to and from the West Auckland area to alternative routes via Darlington and the A67.
Farrans Construction, which is carrying out the work, is liaising with Arriva and the Weardale Motor Company to allow them to plan alternative bus service provision over the weekend. Full details will be available on these companies’ websites.
James Dawes, Northumbrian Water’s Project Manager, said: “This crossing represents the last time we will have to impact on the area’s roads for crossing work as part of the 32km first phase of this project. Customers have been incredibly patient and understanding where we have had to use road closures in recent months, and I am sure they will be relieved to know that this is the last time during our work here in Teesdale.
“We and our partners, Farrans Construction, have worked closely with Durham County Council to develop a plan to minimise the impact, reducing the need to close the road down to a weekend. We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause and thank people for their patience while this takes place.”
The one remaining road that the pipeline needs to cross is the A68 Bildershaw Bank, south of West Auckland, but the intention is to use trenchless engineering to avoid working in the road.