Victorian pipes being replaced on main road

During the works, which will begin today, two 19th-century water pipes will be replaced with one “high-efficiency main” away from the main road, so that any further works can be carried out without disrupting traffic.

Engineering specialists Balfour Beatty will be replacing around 400m of water pipes for Yorkshire Water.

The project will begin along the A61 at the junction of Wheel Lane and Salt Box Lane and run up to the junction of Norfolk Hill, during which time work will take place partly in the main road and partly along neighbouring side roads.

Although Penistone Road will not be closed, two-way traffic lights will be in operation for seven weeks, starting from today.

In April, workers will “briefly” return to the site to chlorinate the pipes and “ensure everything has been restored to exactly how it was.”

Dave Standish, project manager for Yorkshire Water, said: “This essential work will not only help us to continue to supply the bestquality water to customers in Sheffield, but it will also help us to improve the robustness of our underground network, reducing the possibility of bursts and leaks and the subsequent potential disruption that these can have cause to all concerned.

“Obviously we recognise that any work of this magnitude is always likely to cause some disruption, but we want to reassure local residents and road users that we’ll be doing everything we can, including working over parts of weekends, in order to minimise disruption and complete this project as quickly as possible.”

This latest project follows on from Yorkshire Water’s recently-completed £30m investment to improve more than 80km of water pipes across Sheffield over the past three years.