Project Manager Neil McCulloch raised his glass to toast this world first, as the initial length of pipeline passed from the nearby mobile production plant into the ground. The pipe will eventually feed more than 450,000 people throughout Edinburgh and parts of Midlothian with more than 175 million litres of clear, fresh drinking water every day.
Neil McCulloch is delighted not only that this is a world first for Scotland, but that this flagship investment continues to gather pace: "This is great news for Midlothian and Edinburgh. The mobile pipeline production plant will deliver the pipes virtually from the factory straight into the ground; helping to reduce lorry journeys by up to 75%.
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"This will allow for the production of extra long pipes, meaning fewer welds and less handling which will also reduce the overall construction period. When our new Glencorse Water Treatment Works (WTW) is completed in 2011 this pipeline will help to deliver that clearer, fresher drinking water directly into the capital using gravity. Enough water to fill the Commonwealth Pool 70 times every day will pass through the pipes."
The technology employed in the mobile pipe production unit will bring major benefits to all parties involved, with KWH Pipe being able to manufacture and supply the pipe for the project in approximately 50% of the time it would take in a normal pipe production unit.
George Merry, Managing Director of pipeline manufacturer KWH said: "As the pipe welding and installation programme gathers pace, the real benefits of the Mobile Production process can be seen, with extra long lengths of pipe being joined and installed on site in a much reduced time scale.
"Also, the fact that we are manufacturing the pipe virtually within a few hundred metres of the pipeline route means a huge reduction in HGV traffic and disruption on local roads."
Following the pioneering Midlothian project KWH will move on to other sites in Las Vegas and Siberia.
Drinking water will continue to be supplied by the water treatment works at Alnwickhill and Fairmilehead until the new works is completed and on stream in 2011.
(GK/BMcC)
