Community Hub Admin Team •7 months ago Hello everyone,We’re excited to share the latest progress on the River Blackwater Eels Project. As a quick reminder, this work is part of Essex & Suffolk Water’s Eel Regulation Programme, which helps protect eels and other wildlife by preventing them from becoming trapped at our intake and pumping stations. The final stage of the programme involves installing a new eel‑friendly screen at the Blackwater Intake on the River Blackwater.Completion of the detailed design phase is just around the corner, and preparations for the site are moving forward. One important upcoming step will be building a new junction bell mouth, adjacent to Maldon Road (B1019), to give us better access to the site. To carry this out safely, a lane closure will be in place for approximately three to four months. We recognise the disruption this may cause to customers and are therefore committed to working efficiently and quickly to minimise it. All work will take place during normal daytime hours, and there will be no disruption to water supplies.Bell mouth construction is planned to start in early summer 2026. We will share the exact dates closer to the time. Until then, most planning and design work will continue off-site, but you may notice occasional surveys and investigations at the intake. The remaining stages, including the construction of the trackway, second watercourse crossing, screen installation and electrical work, are planned for completion by Summer 2027.We’ll continue to share updates here on the Community Hub as the project progresses. Below are some images of the latest design plans so you can see what’s coming! Thank you,The Project Team
