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Essex & Suffolk Water Employee

Gallows Corner

As part of the major improvement works at Gallows Corner Flyover being carried out by Transport for London (TfL) and their main contractor, Costain, we’re taking the opportunity to upgrade one of our older water mains alongside the A127.

Doing this now means we can avoid more disruption and higher costs down the line and most importantly, it helps protect your water supply before the main construction work gets fully underway.

We are working on a diversion and upgrade of the water main whilst Transport For London (TFL) is carrying out its work to renew and strengthen the Gallows Corner flyover.

We will be involved in excavating sections of the road along the north side of the A127.

We understand the effects our activities may have, and we apologise in advance for any inconvenience these essential works may cause but we are committed to minimising any disturbance and disruption to residents and businesses.

Start Date: June 2025

Estimated End Date: Under Review

Partners: Transport for London (TFL), Costain, Galliford Try

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Phases

Phases overview

Project Updates

Project Updates

12 June 2025 - No end date

Keep up to date with the latest news, progress and upcoming work on our project.

27 issues

Community Hub Admin Team 3 days ago Hi everyone,We wanted to share a quick update from our team carrying out the water pipeline diversion work at Gallows Corner.Work continues on the final testing of the large pipeline, and we remain on track with the smaller pipeline diversion work, which will further enable the newly-diverted network to be brought into use.As always, we’re grateful for your patience and understanding while we work towards completion of this complex project. Thank you.

Community Hub Admin Team 2 weeks ago Hi everyone,We’re entering the critical final phases on our water main diversion work at Gallows Corner.At the end of this week, we anticipate starting the commissioning work to ensure that the large main is ready to be connected into the existing main, via the connection points previously installed.This will see the water main undergo final testing for resilience and quality before being put into supply (note: individual sections have been individually tested as they have been built). Should we encounter any concerns, we have time built into our programme to enable us to resolve these.Away from the large pipe, the smaller ‘distribution main’ we have been working on is in the ground and ready to be disinfected and sampled, before going into supply. This means that we are nearing the end of the current period of 24-hour working.Some shorter periods of 24-hour activity may be required at the end of the commissioning of the larger pipe, to restore the working area and grout the old main, as part of its decommissioning. We will let customers living nearby know if and when this will be required.Thank you as always for your patience and understanding while we have worked on this project, within the larger flyover project.The Project Team

Community Hub Admin Team 3 weeks ago Hi everyone, Here’s the latest update from our water main diversion at Gallows Corner.The construction of the connection blocks at the east and west of the site continues this week, with further concrete pours taking place.Work in the drive and reception pits for the earlier tunnelling is now complete and we will complete the reinstatement of those and hand those areas back to Costain later this week.Excavation for the final smaller pipe is complete, and this will be constructed this week ahead of conditioning work to get that pipe ready to be put into use. This will be followed by the work needed to decommission the abandoned element of that distribution main.This will continue to include night time working that requires the area to be lit, for safety purposes, and we appreciate your understanding of the importance of this.This will include nighttime working, and for safety reasons the working areas need to remain lit. We understand this may cause some inconvenience, and we really appreciate your patience and understanding while this importance work takes place.Overall, we remain on track for completion within the revised timescale. Thank you as always for your patience.The Project Team

Community Hub Admin Team 4 weeks ago Hi everyone,We’re continuing our essential upgrade work at Gallows Corner to strengthen local water resilience.Here’s the latest on what’s happening on site, work is ongoing at both the west and east connection pits. On the west side, concrete pours and steelwork are progressing as planned. On the east side, the team is working at full pace with excavation, blinding and the lower base pour completed. The top half will be poured this week , with new parts for the connection to be welded in place.The final distribution main diversion along the A127 Eastbound has begun. To keep disruption to a minimum and accelerate progress, some of this work will take place at night on weekdays and selected weekends throughout March. This activity is focused near local businesses rather than homes.We will continue to keep you updated with our progress.

Community Hub Admin Team 1 month ago Hi everyone,We’re continuing to make strong progress in these final stages of our water main diversion work, within the wider Gallows Corner flyover project, and we remain in line with the programme for completion.This week, we have welcomed a second nightshift team to site. This will allow us to further maximise the potential to carry out work that can be done through the night, while being careful to remain within the noise restrictions in place on the project.Two of the largest pieces of work currently underway are focused around the connections at the far east and far west of the new pipeline.Having already installed the connection points, we have been excavating at both sides to be able to complete these pieces of work.Going has been tough, with some unanticipated challenges, including heavy clay in both excavations and spatial restrictions preventing the use of the large excavators, requiring the team to dig down by hand. Additionally, we discovered an uncharted underground concrete wall in the eastern side, which we had to remove.However, we have managed to do this while remaining on track.The launch and reception pits that were used during the recent tunnelling work have been largely backfilled, awaiting the final pieces of pipework that are required for those connections. Due to the way the new pipeline has been constructed, in separate phases that need connecting, rather than in a linear manner, the two connecting pieces have had to be specially manufactured, and we anticipate those to be in place in the coming days.We will continue to keep you updated, and, as always, thank you for your patience and understanding while we complete these works.

Community Hub Admin Team 1 month ago Good morning,We’re into March and work continues to progress towards completion of our water mains diversion work at Gallows Corner.Further work is continuing towards the connections within the pits at either end of the tunnelled phase of pipes. Once that is done, these will be refilled.Excavations are also progressing for work on thrust blocks for the main connections on the larger pipe. Thrust blocks are structures that help ensure the stability of the pipes.We have an extra crew joining the team this week, adding to those already on site, to do the final work on the remaining smaller pipe. This will include some night time working, but this will be away from homes and we will monitor noise levels to ensure we remain within permitted levels and minimise disruption.Thank you as always for your patience during this complex project.The Project Team

Community Hub Admin Team 2 months ago Good morning,Following the completion of the two “under pressure” connections last week, work continues to press ahead in the final stages of our water main diversion project at Gallows Corner.Further work is taking place on the connections between the stretches of pipework that will ultimately comprise the new main, including at either end of the section where we tunnelled beneath existing utilities and structures. Once those connections are done, the pits at either end will start to be re-filled.As we continue to make progress in line with the revised programme, we will keep you updated.Thank you, as always, for your continued patience while we carry out this complex work.

Community Hub Admin Team 2 months ago Hi all,We wanted to bring you the latest from site, as we work through the remaining crucial elements of our water main diversion work at Gallows Corner.You may have seen the updates from TfL on the overall programme earlier this week.In that, we highlighted a number of vital and complex stages that we needed to get past, to help us keep on track for completion of our work, within the overall Gallows Corner programme. These pieces of work need to be carried out with the greatest care, to ensure we maintain water supplies for the communities served by this part of the network, and to leave behind a reliable and resilient water pipe, once this project is complete.The first two of these pieces of work were connections into the existing pipework. These had to be carried out “under pressure”, which means drilling into that large water main while water was still passing through it.Our aim was to carry out these two connections by late February, and we are pleased to say that they were both completed this week.This allows us to continue pressing ahead with the construction of large, reinforced anchor blocks, which will protect the main once it is in operation, and the pipe testing processes that will follow.We will continue to liaise closely with all partners on site to complete this complex piece of engineering. Thank you, as always, for our patience and understanding.

Community Hub Admin Team 2 months ago Good afternoon,We wanted to share a quick update from the water main diversions works at Gallows Corner.We’re continuing to work closely with TfL and their team, to ensure that the programmes align in the final phases of work.Over the weekend, we completed the installation of the 14 lengths of pipe inside the micro tunnel, ahead of schedule, and testing will follow on that stretch over the coming days.We’ve also completed the connection on the stretch of pipe furthest west on the A12, and, following backfilling of the excavation we will be finished in that area.Other connection work continues, ahead of the testing and commissioning work to prepare the pipe to be put into use.The focus across the teams working on site is on ensuring the remaining work is delivered safely and efficiently, and with the care required to ensure we deliver a resilient pipeline and water supply for customers now and in future generations.Thank you as always for your continued patience, while we carry out this complex piece of engineering.

Community Hub Admin Team 2 months ago Hi everyone,We wanted to bring you up to date on our water main diversion at Gallows Corner.At the weekend, we completed the tunnelling work to install the penultimate stretch of pipes, and the final stretch, which is being installed using the more traditional “trench” method, is nearing completion.Work continues towards carrying out the connections, bringing these new stretches of pipes together with each other and with the existing main into which they connect. The pipeline will then undergo a period of commissioning and testing, ready to be put into use.We also wanted to provide some assurance for customers in the Heath Drive area, where we understand there to be some concerns regarding traffic movement. While we are talking either directly or via Costain to those customers who have raised the matter, we wanted to assure people that we continue to remind all drivers in our supply chain to remain within the 20mph speed limit. While there will be small pockets of time when there will be some increase in vehicular movements, overall you should see a gradual decrease is in vehicles from our work as we move towards completion.We continue to work closely with TFL and our onsite partners – as we have throughout this project - to finish the work according to the revised schedule and we are appreciative of customers’ and motorists’ patience while the work continues.

Community Hub Admin Team 2 months ago

Community Hub Admin Team 3 months ago Hi everyone,We’ve had another week of good progress since our last update, and we wanted to bring you the latest from our team at Gallows Corner.You may recall that we have two stretches of pipework left to finish installing; one using traditional trench excavations, the other utilising the tunnelling technique that will enable us to put the pipes beneath the existing third party utilities already underground.On top of this, work is taking place to start connecting the new sections of pipes together.In the next week, we anticipate the final stretch of “trench” method installations to be completed. This will allow further work to take place on the connections, preparing the diverted main for when it comes to testing and ultimately putting it into use.The tunnelling machine is also expected to begin its work in the coming days. We wanted to take the opportunity to remind you that, once this starts, it will continue, 24/7, for around a week. We will have acoustic barriers in place between the machine and neighbouring properties, as well as noise monitoring, to reduce the potential disruption.Thank you, as always, for your patience and understanding, while we push towards the end of this complex piece of engineering.

Community Hub Admin Team 3 months ago Hi everyone and Happy New Year!With all of our crews back on site at Gallows Corner this week and pressing ahead following the festive break, we wanted to bring you up to date on our continued positive progress.MicrotunnellingYou may recall that we are installing a section of the water main using a “microtunnelling” technique that allows us to safely navigate other companies’ existing utilities and culverts to the east of the roundabout.Specialist teams worked through the break to prepare the “drive” and “reception” pits, ready for this microtunnelling. The “drive” pit, at the edge of the roundabout area, is where the team will operate from, tunnelling east towards the “reception” pit.The pit excavation work has progressed in line with the programme and now we are preparing to create their concrete bases, which will make it safe to position the necessary heavy machinery in the pits. The timing of the required concrete pours is dependent on a moderate rise in the temperature, and forecasts are currently looking favourable for this to happen in time for us to start the actual tunnelling on Monday, as per the programme. We will be keeping a close eye on this.Once started, there will be a continuous tunnelling process ongoing for around a week, before we anticipate the machine reaching the reception pit. Acoustic barriers are being put in place between the drive shaft and nearby properties, to minimise any noise impact, and we will be monitoring noise levels at the reception pit as well.Pipelaying and connectionsElsewhere on site, we are working on the final element of the more traditional “trenched” pipe laying work, to the west of the roundabout, and we are starting to work toward connecting the various phases of pipe together to make one new water main.Thank you as always for your patience and understanding, while we work towards completion of this important and complex piece of engineering.

Community Hub Admin Team 4 months ago Hi everyone,As we move towards the festive period, we wanted to bring you an update from site and a look ahead to the next couple of weeks.Work continues on multiple fronts, with teams working across the site to make best progress.West of the roundabout This week, we anticipate completion of pipelaying, and re-surfacing work to be carried out on the westernmost stretch of the water main, representing another target date successfully achieved within the current programme. Work will then start on creating the working area that will eventually allow us to carry out the necessary connection into the existing main. Work continues with the pipelaying between that section and the western end of the roundabout area. East of the roundabout We continue with enabling works for the microtunnelling process that will allow us to install the pipes nearest the roundabout in a way that navigates a number of other utilities and culverts. This section of pipework will connect the pipes we have already completed laying on the most easterly section, and within the roundabout area. The team carrying out the microtunnelling will continue to work through the festive period, with the exception of December 25, 26, 27 and 28. While the later stages of the microtunnelling will involve periods of 24 hour working to make best progress, we do not anticipate noise disruption. We will be utilising noise barriers and working within regulated parameters. We will continue to work closely with our partners, Galliford Try, and with TfL, Costain and all other parties involved, to keep pressing ahead so that we can make best progress, safely and efficiently.Many thanks for your patience during this challenging and complex project in 2025, and we look forward to a successful completion in Spring 2026.

Community Hub Admin Team 4 months ago Hi everyone,We wanted to update you on the continued progress on our water main diversion at Gallows Corner. This week, on the West section on the A12, we will be looking to install the remaining pipework by the end of the week, subject to factors such as the weather. When this is complete, it will allow the team to work on the East and West connections on the existing main.The team are continuing to work hard to navigate around unchartered services where the team will be carrying out the micro tunnelling phase. When this work is complete, the team will move forward at pace with the micro tunnelling.Once again, we’d like to thank you for your patience while we continue to work with TfL and other partners on site to deliver our complex project within the wider flyover programme. We’ll continue to keep you updated and aim to complete this work as quickly and safely as we are able.

Community Hub Admin Team 4 months ago Hi everyone, This weekend we are carrying out emergency essential works that are required on a 12 inch main in Ardleigh Green Road, A127 westbound carriageway. This necessary work has been scheduled over the weekend and overnight to try and curtail the disruption during weekdays. Work will start at 4am, Saturday, 06th of December until late evening, Sunday, 07th of December. A lane closure will be required in order to carry out the works safely. While this work isn’t a result of our project at Gallows Corner, we appreciate the impact of any disruption nearby, and wanted to make you aware of this lane closure. We apologise in advance for the inconvenience caused to drivers and residents during this time.Thank you,The Project Team

Community Hub Admin Team 4 months ago Good morning,Work continues to progress on three fronts as we work towards completing our water main diversion work at Gallows Corner, in line with the revised programme.As we mentioned last week, work has now moved out of the roundabout area, and continues to the east, on the A127, and with two crews to the west on the A12.This includes installation of the drive shaft to enable the microtunneling that will allow us to lay pipes on the east side, safely navigating other underground assets, including culverts (covered watercourses).As you might imagine in such a busy area, we continue to encounter uncharted services, but the team are taking care to navigate these safely.We will continue to work with TfL and all other partners on the site to deliver this work as efficiently and safely as possible.As always, thank you for your patience and understanding while we deliver this complex project.

Community Hub Admin Team 5 months ago Hi everyone,We wanted to let you know about our continued progress at Gallows Corner, in line with the agreed programme.You may recall we had two phases of pipelaying within the roundabout itself. The eastern section was completed earlier in the month, allowing us to progress on the second section, on the west side, and this is now also complete.The remainder of our water main diversion work involves pipelaying outside of the roundabout area, working west and east away from the roundabout itself.We have two crews pipelaying concurrently on the A12, to the west of the roundabout, to maintain best possible progress, while a third team has this week mobilised to the east, where we will microtunnel away from the roundabout on the A127.Our section of pipelaying further east has been completed and reinstated, awaiting connection work.We will continue to press ahead, aiming to complete our diversion work as efficiently and safely as possible, to support the completion of the wider flyover project and re-opening of this important road network.We would like to thank you again for your patience and understanding while this is carried out.

Go Vocal Moderator5 months ago Hi everyone, We just wanted to share a brief update from the project team working on diverting our water main at Gallows Corner.You may be aware that the existing main sits within the foundations of the flyover, which it predates, so the work being carried out by TFL requires us to carry out this work.The good news is that we continue to make good progress, in line with the new agreed overall programme, and with multiple teams working concurrently to ensure we deliver this work as safely, efficiently and swiftly as possible. We've been able to keep on programme despite last week encountering another uncharted gas main, which needed careful handling while we worked with the pipe's owners to ensure it was not hazardous.We will continue to work with TFL and all other partners on site to complete our work in line with the overall flyover project.Thank you, as always, for your patience and understanding.

Community Hub Admin Team 5 months ago Hi everyone, We’d like to take this opportunity to once again thank you for your patience and understanding while we carry out this work.We continue to have multiple crews and additional support working on site, so that we can complete the water main diversion work as efficiently and safely as possible, and to work closely with the other partners on site to coordinate progress as effectively as possible.Having hit our target date on the work along the A127 to the east of the site last week, we are now 50% of the way on that element of the work, while we continue progressing on the second phase of work within the roundabout area.As always, should you have any queries about our work at Gallows Corner, please do get in touch.

Community Hub Admin Team 5 months ago Hi everyone,Transport for London (TfL) have today given an update on the wider programme of works and it can be viewed by selecting the following link. https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/improvements-and-projects/gallows-corner-flyover-refurbishmentIf you have any queries related to our works, please do get in touch and a member of our Project Team will get back to you. Thank you very much,The Project Team

Community Hub Admin Team 5 months ago Hi everyone, Passengers on public transport passing through the roundabout in the last couple of days may have noticed a slight change in route.This marks the good progress we have continued to make, completing the first of our two phases of work within the roundabout and meeting the target date for that activity, as established in the latest programme of work. That gang has now moved across to the other stretch of the roundabout to begin our work in this area.We are also on track to another of those target dates this week, with the work we are currently delivering near the eastern flyover abutment area on the A127. You can see some of the progress in the image alongside this update.With multiple gangs working at the same time – as well as extra resource being put in place this week – good progress is being maintained, and we continue to work closely with Transport for London (TfL) and the other partners on site to deliver the water main renewal safely and efficiently within that larger project.Thank you,The Project Team

Go Vocal Moderator5 months ago Hi everyone, Good progress continues to be made on site with our water mains renewal.This week, we anticipate completing the first of the two sections of pipelaying within the roundabout area. The second phase of the roundabout works shall follow on sequentially and is planned to commence next week.We have also commenced breaking ground for pipelaying at the most south-easterly section of the main, where the second gang continues to make progress.We are also liaising with TFL regarding a third working area, west of the roundabout, and hope to have that work up and running in the next couple of weeks.As always, we continue to work closely with TFL and all partners on the site, to ensure we can maintain this good progress, as safely and quickly as possible. Thank you again for your patience,The Project Team

Go Vocal Moderator6 months ago Hi everyone,We wanted to let you know about ongoing progress on our mains renewal work at Gallows Corner.Since last week’s update, we have excavated a further 10m-plus of ground for the section of main being laid within the roundabout area, and we have the first pipes not only in the ground, but connected and the ground already backfilled.We’ve also started work this week on another phase of work to the south east of the site. This means we will be actively working on two stretches of the larger main at the same time, helping to make progress as quickly as possible.And we remain on track to complete the last of the smaller local mains within the next fortnight.We’ll continue to update you on a regular basis. Thank you, as always, for your patience.Thank you, The Project Team

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