Infrastructure Delivery Award
The utilities industry stands on the cusp of record investments in large intergenerational infrastructure projects and this category highlighted a myriad of projects worthy of recognition. In addition to being numerous, the judges said their job was made even harder this year due to an increase in quality – although some entries were too eager to share their achievements before projects had concluded and could be fully assessed.
The projects that stood out from the crowd were deeply complex in nature and solved difficult problems for the industry. However, project managers had displayed a steady hand on the tiller, bringing them to a close both on time and on budget.
The finalists
Morrison Water Services & Thames Water - Die draw technique on Seven Sisters Road
Portsmouth Water - The Havant Thicket Reservoir
South East Water with DDS Contracting and AtkinsRéalis - Aylesford storage reservoir restoration
SSE Energy Solutions - Medway Park Leisure Centre
SSEN Transmission - Inveraray-Crossaig overhead electricity transmission line
Tangent & UK Power Networks - A new website to weather any storm
Infrastructure Delivery Award
Despite the utilities industry being on the cusp of record investments in large intergenerational infrastructure projects, the industry has again put forward a myriad of projects worthy of recognition. In addition to being numerous, the judges said their job was made even harder this year due to an increase in quality – although some entries were too eager to share their achievements before projects had concluded and could be fully assessed.
The projects that stood out from the crowd were deeply complex in nature and solved difficult problems for the industry. However, project managers had displayed a steady hand on the tiller, bringing them to a close both on time and on budget.
The finalists
Morrison Water Services & Thames Water - Die draw technique on Seven Sisters Road
Portsmouth Water - The Havant Thicket Reservoir
South East Water with DDS Contracting and AtkinsRéalis - Aylesford storage reservoir restoration
SSE Energy Solutions - Medway Park Leisure Centre
SSEN Transmission - Inveraray-Crossaig overhead electricity transmission line
Tangent & UK Power Networks - A new website to weather any storm
Morrison Water Services & Thames Water - Die draw technique on Seven Sisters Road
The Morrison Water Services Trunk Main Leakage Team is repairing three water mains between Seven Sisters Road and Finsbury Park Road in Hackney, to reduce the risk of future bursts.
The team is utilising an innovative Die Draw solution to maximise bore size (and hence flow capacity) and minimise disruption to customers in this highly congested area of London. The 36-inch cast iron mains are being relined in multiple phases. Phases One & Two are now complete, with the team now working on Phase Three, which is expected to be completed by early summer 2024.
Morrison Water Services and Living With Water - Delivering surface water flood resilience on Rosmead Street
Morrison Water Services has successfully delivered the first Living With Water project as part of a multi-million pound investment in building surface water flood resilience in Hull.
The retrofit of a 480m permeable paved road, delivering 365m3 of storage will reduce flood risk to 278 homes. 420 customer properties were impacted during project delivery and the collective team delivered extensive stakeholder engagement to co-create the design with communities, enabling acceptance at an early stage, minimising potential complaints.
This £2.2 million project was delivered ahead of schedule, on budget, with zero safety incidents, leaving a long-term legacy for the local community.
Portsmouth Water - The Havant Thicket Reservoir
Portsmouth Water is a leading UK water company. Offering customers the lowest average water bills across England and Wales, it also delivers the highest standards of service. This year, Portsmouth Water completed significant milestones to start constructing the UK’s first major reservoir since the 1980s.
This comes at a critical time where climate change and population growth are adding increasing strain on water supplies and the natural environment.
This reservoir responds to these challenges and will facilitate the reduction in abstraction from environmentally sensitive chalk streams. It will help preserve local wildlife habitats and provide important social and community benefits.
South East Water with DDS Contracting and AtkinsRéalis - Aylesford storage reservoir restoration
A complex three-year project has been completed after millions of litres of water was lost when sinkholes appeared at South East Water’s drinking water storage reservoir in Aylesford in 2020. Of the three cells on site, one was demolished, a second repaired and a third split into two, increasing turnover and efficiency. Several specialist surveys were undertaken, including CCTV, geophysical, laser scanning ground level monitoring and dynamic probing to develop repairs. Meanwhile, an alternative reservoir storage scheme was completed by repurposing an existing above ground raw water tank and a temporary water treatment works was built nearby to boost supplies.
SSE Energy Solutions - Medway Park Leisure Centre
Medway Council and the SSE Smart Energy Systems team have developed a long-term Strategic Energy Partnership. This partnership will see multiple phases of retrofit energy efficiency projects and long-term specialist projects such as EV infrastructure, large-scale solar, decarbonisation of heat and net-zero regeneration/development. Phase One of this partnership included the development of an innovative retrofit Smart Energy System for Medway Park Leisure Centre, which includes three heated pools, two gyms and amenities across three stories. The Smart Energy System and microgrid incorporates existing and new assets to create decarbonisation, efficiency, generation and storage across the Centre’s entire energy system.
SSEN Transmission - Inveraray-Crossaig overhead electricity transmission line
The existing Inveraray-Crossaig overhead electricity transmission line was built back in the 1950s and, after a long service life, was reaching the end of its operational life.
The new replacement line was built in two phases. Now fully energised, this piece of critical national infrastructure will serve as one of the electricity transmission network’s main arteries in the West of Scotland.
This project is the most significant electricity network project in the region in decades.
Tangent & UK Power Networks - A new website to weather any storm
As a major energy infrastructure, when an unexpected power outage or storm hits, UK Power Networks (UKPN) need a fast, efficient and dependable digital platform to keep the masses informed. Without one, millions could (literally) be left in the dark. UKPN partnered with Tangent to migrate from a monolithic to a bespoke headless, MACH, JAMStack and DXC architecture. This migration produced numerous benefits, including: •44% reduction of carbon emissions •50% page-load time reduction •66% operational cost savings •Increased traffic capacity •Enhanced security and UX. This platform now serves as a dependable and accessible lifeline, with customer satisfaction scores of 91.72.