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GHD

We are a global professional services company that leads through engineering, construction and architectural expertise. Our forward-looking, innovative approaches connect and sustain communities around the world.

Delivering extraordinary social and economic outcomes, we are focused on building lasting relationships with our partners and clients. Established in 1928, we remain wholly owned by our people. We are 10,000+ diverse and skilled individuals connected by over 200 offices, across give continents – Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America and the Pacific region.

Our integrated solutions address every element of the water cycle – from catchment to tap – for urban, rural and industrial applications. We take pride in offering independent advice on the most appropriate technologies, cost-effective design and methods of construction to maximise outcomes. Our offering includes feasibility studies, planning, design, project management and asset management services, as well as operational optimisation.

Clough Bottom Impounding Reservoir (2023)

Clough Bottom Impounding Reservoir (IR) is an earth-fill embankment reservoir located on the eastern edge of the West Pennine Moors, around 4km north east of Rawtenstall, Lancashire. The reservoir is currently used for public water supply and compensation flows. The reservoir was formed by the construction of an earth embankment across the Whitewell Brook and […]

Birds Park Impounding Reservoir (2023)

Birds Park Reservoir is no longer used for water supply and is enjoyed by the community for recreation. Constructed around 1850, the dam is an earth embankment, 45m long and 13.8m high, perched above a residential area near Kendal, Cumbria. There are no historical drawings, and limited site investigation data was available but it was […]

Heaton Park Reservoir Liner Improvements (2022)

Heaton Park Reservoir is located within Heaton Park, approximately 5 miles north of Manchester city centre. The reservoir is over 90 years old and has the capacity of 2,800,000m3 at top water level. The reservoir was previously used to store treated water for the Manchester Ring Main from Haweswater and Thirlmere aqueducts. However, since the […]

United Utilities Maintenance Service Provider Framework (2022)

As the UK’s largest listed water company, United Utilities aspires to ensure resilience of its network to the effects of climate change, improving the quality of wastewater effluent and providing a reliable and wholesome drinking water supply to its customers. To help drive greater efficiency and innovation in its network, United Utilities appointed Costain as […]

Strongford STW - THP & LTP (2022)

Strongford STW is a major sewage treatment works serving the population equivalent of circa 350,000 from Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent. The site’s sludge treatment facility provides a major centre for regional operations. Based on a forecast increase in population, it was identified that an increase in treatment capacity would be required to accommodate the local growth. […]

Waverley Growth (2021)

To accommodate new housing and commercial growth in the Waverley/Catcliffe area of Sheffield, Yorkshire Water required the design and construction of a new pipeline to transfer the flows from a housing development of 4000 homes to the main Blackburn Meadows WwTW. The pipeline route crossed main dual carriageways, other roads, roundabouts, railway lines and passed […]

Huddersfield Energy & Recycling Facility (2021)

Sludge treatment in the Huddersfield area was previously provided by incineration at Calder Valley Incinerator, located at Yorkshire Water’s Upper Brighouse Site. This incinerator has been inoperable since a weather event in 2015. Following a strategic review, Yorkshire Water Services (YWS) decided to progress with conventional mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD) plant supported by lime sanitisation […]

BRP - Elan Valley Aqueduct - Birmingham Resilience Project (2020)

Between 1893 and 1904 the Birmingham Corporation dammed the Elan Valley in Wales and constructed an aqueduct to channel water to Birmingham. At the height of the industrial revolution, between 1800 and 1900 Birmingham was booming, and its population rose substantially. Following outbreaks of smallpox and diarrhea, city officials deemed it essential to provide its […]

Huddersfield Energy & Recycling Facility (2020)

Huddersfield Energy and Recycling Facility (Huddersfield E&RF) is in Mirfield on Yorkshire Water’s Upper Brighouse site. The project involved the demolition of the existing incinerator and construction of a new mesophilic anaerobic digestion facility that will produce electricity; equivalent to powering 5280 homes once it is fully operational. The primary drivers for the scheme were: […]

BRP - Treated Water Project - Birmingham Resilience Project (2020)

Raw water has been collected in reservoirs in the Elan Valley in Wales and transferred 118km under gravity through an aqueduct to the water treatment works (WTW) in Birmingham for treatment and distribution to the city’s residents and industries since the beginning of the 20th century. The original infrastructure was constructed over 100 years ago, […]

Newark Waste and Water Improvement Project (2020)

Severn Trent have made a £60m investment in Newark-on-Trent upgrading the sewers and water supply network throughout the town. The project provided relief to some 400 homes and businesses from sewer flooding, and provided a robust water supply system which will serve the town for many years to come. The project included a 2.8km segmental […]

Oldham & Royton Integrated Strategy (ORIS) (2020)

United Utilities is the regional water company for the North West of England, delivering water and wastewater services to 7m people from Cheshire to the Scottish border. Oldham WwTW and Royton WwTW are two major wastewater treatment works located in Oldham, to the north east of Manchester. The Oldham and Royton Integrated Strategy (ORIS) project […]

Bolton-upon-Dearne WwTW (2020)

Bolton-upon-Dearne Wastewater Treatment Works serves approximately 25,000 customers in Rotherham. Faced with an Environment Agency consent to reduce ammonia at the works, Yorkshire Water has undertaken a £12.3m, 14-month project to construct a brand new inlet works and install a new treatment process that will greatly improve the quality of water being released back into […]

Nottingham, Shakespeare Street, Flood Alleviation (2020)

Shakespeare Street in Nottingham is situated at the heart of Nottingham Trent University campus, a short walk from the main square in the city centre. The basements of a number of buildings in the area suffered repeat sewer flooding, ranking inside the top 1% of all flood risks across the Severn Trent (ST) region. In […]

BRP - Treated Water Project - Birmingham Resilience Project (2019)

Since the beginning of the 20th century, raw water has been conveyed 118km from the Elan Valley in Wales, under gravity by aqueduct, to the water treatment works (WTW) in Birmingham for treatment and supply to the population of the city. The aqueduct has been in continuous service for over 100 years and requires some […]

Crankley Point Terminal Pumping Station (2019)

Crankley Point Sewage Treatment Works (STW) is a Severn Trent asset serving Newark-on-Trent, a town in Nottinghamshire with a population of just under 30,000. As part of the £60 million Newark Waste and Water Improvement Project, a new terminal pumping station (TPS) and screening chamber (SC) with outfall to the River Trent was required to […]

Morecambe WwTW Catchment Strategy: Part 2 (2019)

United Utilities’ Morecambe sewerage system collects at Schola Green Wastewater Pumping Station (WwPS) located in the west end of the town. From there, flows for treatment are pumped via a 6km long pipeline to Morecambe Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW), which is situated to the south, near to the village of Middleton. Both sites have sea […]

Blackburn and Darwen WwTWs (2018)

Following on from the Blackburn and Darwen WwTWs (2017) article, the site at Samlesbury, Blackburn, has been prepared for the construction of the 72,000m3 structure which will house the innovative Nereda® aerobic granular biomass technology. The Nereda® system will treat crude sewage that has only received preliminary treatment and has been developed to treat the […]

Blackpool South Surface Water Strategy (2018)

The Blackpool South Surface Water Strategy is a £30m scheme aimed at improving bathing water quality along Blackpool’s golden mile. The project tackles the combined challenges of climate change, an aging Victorian sewer network, increasing urbanisation and a responsive catchment. The project’s objectives are the reduction in frequency and quality improvement of spills within the […]

BRP - Elan Valley Aqueduct (Nantmel and Frydd Wood) - Birmingham Resilience Project (2018)

At the height of the industrial revolution, Birmingham’s population was booming. Between 1800 and 1900, the city had grown substantially. An innovative solution was needed to provide its residents and industries with safe drinking water. James Mansergh had identified the Elan Valley as a source for water. With Birmingham located so far in land, the […]

BRP - Elan Valley Aqueduct (Severn Siphon) - Birmingham Resilience Project (2018)

The Elan Valley Aqueduct (EVA) is a Victorian water structure built between 1893 and 1904. The aqueduct transports water entirely by gravity from the Elan Valley in Wales to Frankley Water Treatment Works in Birmingham, and comprises a combination of cut and cover conduits, siphons and tunnels. Over 100 years on and this aqueduct still […]

BRP - Treated Water Project - Birmingham Resilience Project (2018)

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Elan Valley Aqueduct (EVA) has conveyed raw water 118km from the Elan Valley in Wales under gravity to Frankley Water Treatment Works (WTW) in Birmingham. The treatment works was inaugurated at the same time as the EVA and has treated water, to supply the residents and industries […]

Morecambe WwTW Catchment Strategy: Part 1 (2018)

The Morecambe sewerage system collects at Schola Green Wastewater Pumping Station (WwPS) located in the west end of the town. From there, flows for treatment are pumped via a 6km long pipeline to Morecambe Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW), which is situated to the south, near to the village of Middleton. Both sites have outfall pipelines […]

Preston WwTW (2018)

Preston WwTW serves a population in excess of 250,000 and has six sub-catchments: Lytham, Fairhaven and Freckleton within the Fylde District to the west, Lea Gate and Watery Lane to the east within the Borough of Preston and Penwortham to the southwest within the South Ribble District. United Utilities (UU) has invested £20m during AMP6 […]

Strongford STW - THP (2018)

Strongford STW is located at the north west end of Severn Trent’s region and covers a significant catchment in and around Stoke-on-Trent with a population equivalent of 350,000. The Strongford digestion plant currently processes 34 tonnes dry solid per day (tds/day) indigenous; and 14 tds/day liquid imports which includes 7 tds/day from the recently closed […]

BRP - Elan Valley Aqueduct (Bleddfa) - Birmingham Resilience Project (2017)

At the height of the industrial revolution, Birmingham’s population was booming. Between 1800 and 1900, the city had grown substantially. An innovative solution was needed to provide its residents and industries with safe drinking water. James Mansergh had identified the Elan Valley as a source for water. With Birmingham located so far in land, the […]

Blackburn and Darwen WwTWs (2017)

Blackburn and Darwen WwTWs are two of United Utilities’ major treatment works and are located near the former mill town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The Blackburn and Darwen WwTW Integrated Solution (BDIS) project combines new river water quality and bathing water drivers at these two works into a single integrated project. The integrated approach will give […]

Bransholme Surface Water Pumping Station (2017)

Hull’s response to the 2007 flooding that affected thousands of homes in the Bransholme catchment is now complete and operational. This saw Yorkshire Water appoint Black & Veatch (now Binnies) to carry out a feasibility study followed by a design and build contract for a new pumping station. The new Bransholme Surface Water Pumping Station (SWPS), […]

Granary Culvert (2017)

The Granary Culvert is a 60m long channel with a 6m span. It has a 2.5m headroom and forms a section of Worsley Brook. The 150 year-old brick culvert had suffered structural defects. These included some full section cracking, ring delamination, heavy deformation to the barrel, and rotation to the abutment. Sections were in such […]

Oldham & Royton Integrated Strategy (ORIS) (2017)

United Utilities is the regional water company for the north west of England, delivering water and wastewater services to 7m people from Cheshire to the Scottish border. Oldham WwTW and Royton WwTW are two major treatment works located in Oldham, to the north east of Manchester. The Oldham and Royton Integrated Strategy (ORIS) project combines […]

Camels Head WwTW (2016)

South West Water’s Camels Head WwTW, is located in a residential area of Plymouth, Devon and serves a population equivalent (PE) of 41,500. Capital maintenance is required due to issues with current full flow to treatment (FFT) compliance, which is constrained by the primary settlement tanks (PSTs) capacity, odour from the site, inlet screening and […]

BRP - Treated Water Project - Birmingham Resilience Project (2016)

Frankley WTW is located to the south west of Birmingham city centre. It is the primary water treatment works supplying potable water to the city of Birmingham. The Elan Valley Aqueduct (EVA) is a 118km gravity aqueduct that conveys raw water from the Elan Reservoirs in mid Wales to Frankley WTW. The Elan Reservoirs are […]

National Grid Flood Resilience Programme (2016)

The flood events which occurred in the United Kingdom during the summer of 2007 resulted in a loss of essential services and infrastructure not seen since World War II. Reportedly, over half a million people were left without water or electricity supply, with the estimated cost of the events exceeding £3.2 billion in 2007 prices. […]

Shieldhall Tunnel (2016)

Construction of the Shieldhall Tunnel, the biggest investment in the Glasgow wastewater network since Victorian times, is well underway. Once complete, it will improve river water quality and the natural environment of the River Clyde and its tributaries, enable the Greater Glasgow area to grow and develop, alleviate sewer flooding key locations and deal with […]

Southport Demand Monitoring Zone Strategy (2016)

Southport is a large seaside town that lies on the Irish Sea coast approximately 20 miles north of Liverpool. With a population over 100,000 Southport is the eleventh most populated settlement in the north-west of England. At the turn of the 19th century the area became popular with tourists due to the easy access from […]

Sunnyhurst & Earnsdale Impounding Reservoirs (2016)

Sunnyhurst and Earnsdale Impounding Reservoirs (IR) are situated 1.5km to the west of Darwen town centre in Lancashire and are owned and operated by United Utilities. Sunnyhurst IR is one of the raw water sources of Fishmoor WTW, which feeds Blackburn and the surrounding areas (population equivalent of 100,000 people). Earnsdale IR provides compensation water […]

Wetherby STW (2016)

Wetherby STW is the wastewater treatment facility for the market town of Wetherby and its surrounding area. It has a population of approximately 23,000 people and is mainly unaffected by seasonal variations other than the local Wetherby Race Course. As there is no direct connection from the racecourse to the sewage treatment works, all racecourse […]

Fleetwood WwTW Stormwater Storage (2015)

In order to help reduce the spill frequency of untreated stormwater on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, a new storage tank was required to provide an additional storage capacity of 15,000m3. The new tank was to be located at the existing Fleetwood WwTW and was completed within AMP5, delivered on programme and within budget. This […]

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