Pipe dreams

Hastening our roads' decline into little more than cattle tracks sprinkled with asphalt clods, South East Water will spend 41 weeks replacing 5km of cruddy cast iron water main pipes with shiny blue plastic tubes - that's 0.00045 mph in old money. It'll be great when it's over.

Here's what they have to say about it on their website:

Water pipes which were first laid in Herne Bay more than 80 years ago during King George V’s reign are to be replaced as they reach the end of their working life. South East Water is to carry out a £1 million programme of work to replace 22 of the cast iron water mains at various locations across the town.

The pipes have served the town well during their long life time but now needs replacing to bring an end to the interruption to drinking water supplies and traffic disruption the sudden bursts are causing. In total the water company is to renew 5km of water main in Herne Bay over the next year. The new water main is made from modern plastic material which is less prone to bursts. Many of the pipes were made of cast iron, which although a strong material, can corrode over time, especially if they are laid in clay soil like that in Herne Bay.

Access for residents will be maintained throughout the work. The company aims to start construction on the 14th June 2010 and the main laying work is expected to complete by March 2011. The table below gives details of the current proposed construction timetable. This is subject to change and the website will be updated if it does so.

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I'm not sure if this table from SE Water's website is supposed to be in any particular order, but I've turned it into (more helpful?) pictures...

Click the thumbnail below for what's happening where (and in what order):

click it to big it

And click this one for a different look at the rollout:

click it to big it