Crane builds up a 'hole' lot of interest

At nearly 40 foot deep, the huge tank could easily swallow up a house, but it’s designed to store the extra water that would otherwise cause sewage to overflow into nearby Whittle Brook

A huge crane in the middle of a motorway roundabout at Heywood has been raising a few eyebrows. But its real job is to raise the concrete sections for a giant underground storage tank.

It’s all part of United Utilities’ £50 million clean-up programme to upgrade Rochdale's drainage system, bringing massive benefits for local watercourses.

The work at Junction 19 of the M62 began in May and the water company has just released pictures of the construction going on behind the scenes.

At nearly 40 foot deep, the huge tank could easily swallow up a house, but it’s designed to store the extra water that would otherwise cause sewage to overflow into nearby Whittle Brook.

Rob Williams, United Utilities project manager, explained: "Apart from the crane there’s nothing to see as you drive past the site and people have been wondering what’s going on. These pictures give you a bird’s eye view of the scale of the work.”

It’s one of nine different locations where United Utilities will be working in and around Rochdale over a period of two years to improve the Rivers Roch, Beal and Spodden and the Whittle and Stanney Brooks.

The other locations are:

Middleton Road/ Hollin Lane, Heywood
Belfield Lane, Rochdale
Cedar Lane/ Shaw Road, Newhey
Phase 2 (starting November)

Ashes Lane, Milnrow
Foot Wood, Rochdale
Phase 3 (starting January)

Smithy Bridge Road, Littleborough
Botany Park, Roch Valley Way
Rochdale wastewater treatment works

Rob added: "This is a huge investment for Rochdale that will bring real quality-of-life improvements for everyone who lives here. By cleaning up the local watercourses we could soon welcome back fish like salmon, not seen since before the Industrial Revolution.

"As we start at each new site we will write to local residents to keep them up to date while the programme of work progresses."

Rochdale's drainage network was developed by Victorian engineers who came up with a system of "sewer overflow" pipes to act as a flood-prevention mechanism during heavy rain. These allowed the extra stormwater to overflow into local watercourses, preventing highways and homes from flooding.

It was an effective flood solution, but the overflowing sewers can now lead to litter and pollution getting into our rivers and streams. So the clean-up scheme will involve building large underground storage tanks and new sieve-like screens at the overflow points to strain out any litter. This will mean overflows happen less frequently, and the water is cleaner before it enters the river.

Rochdale's sewer improvement scheme forms part of United Utilities' £3.6 billion investment programme between 2010 and 2015, which will bring cleaner, more reliable tap water and a cleaner environment.