The work is to upgrade the sewerage infrastructure and substantially reduce the risk of out-of-sewer flooding in the Marguerite Park area of South Belfast, and pave the way for future works in the Sicily Park area.
Work on Phase one is underway within the grounds of Musgrave Park & Musgrave Park Hospital, and the overall project will take up to 2 years to complete.
The machine will help reduce disruption within Musgrave Park/ Musgrave Park Hospital and Malone College by tunnelling around 800m of the new sewer underground – right below our feet! We will also tunnel under the main Belfast to Dublin Railway line, avoiding the need for any closures.
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Mark Sefton, NI Water Project Manager, said: "NI Water is delighted to welcome the arrival of the TBM on this major Flood Alleviation Project and look forward to putting the machine into operation!
"The machine will remove approximately 4000 tonnes of soil, equivalent to 250 full lorry loads of earth from below the ground, while users of the park and hospital will be unaware of what is happening below their feet! Tunnelling will also significantly reduce excavation works, and avoid the use of 21,000 tonnes of new stone fill, saving around 24,000 litres of fuel in transportation.
"NI Water would like to thank the public for their ongoing patience as construction progresses on this major project. Once complete, the local community will benefit from reduced risk of out-of-sewer flooding in the Marguerite Park area for many years to come."
The overall project involves constructing over 1.3km of new large diameter sewer from the ‘Grovelands’ area of Musgrave Park, through the park grounds, Musgrave Park Hospital and Malone College, crossing under the railway line and through an area of private land into Diamond Gardens/Marguerite Park and Donegal Park.
BSG Civil Engineering is the main contractor for the project, with Atkins providing design and Project Management Support.
