Design, construction and maintenance services provider Barhale has won a £16M four-year contract to build a new service reservoir in Scarborough for Yorkshire Water.

The scheme is intended to strengthen local drinking-water resilience and replace ageing storage assets serving the town and surrounding area with the delivery of Springhill SRE No.3, a 17.3M litre twin-compartment reinforced concrete reservoir with an associated valve house.

It is designed to supersede the 93-year-old SRE No.1, which has 15M litres of storage, alongside the smaller Springhill SRE No.2, which holds 2.6M.

Yorkshire Water said the new arrangement will support current demand and provide headroom for future service levels.

The structure will measure 55m by 77m externally and rise 5m above ground level. Internally, it will be split into two equal chambers of 54m by 38m, balanced with the existing Springhill reservoirs.

Due to site constraints the new asset will be built adjacent to the existing compound rather than on a separate plot. The construction method will combine an in-situ base slab with precast walls, columns and roof units fabricated off site.

Barhale said this should improve quality control while reducing programme risk and disruption on site.

The concrete specification has also been developed to withstand soft-water attack and chemical degradation without relying on protective coatings.

The wider scope of works includes new inlet, outlet and overflow pipelines, pumping stations and the decommissioning and disconnection of plant associated with the current reservoirs. Yorkshire Water said surveys have already started in the Sandybed area ahead of construction, which is due to begin in 2027.

Barhale’s position in Yorkshire Water’s programme has been reinforced with this win after earlier this year it was appointed to the utility firm’s £850M Complex Non-Infrastructure Framework for AMP8.

Barhale regional director for Yorkshire Johannes Esterhuyse said: “This project is fundamental to securing long-term water resilience for Scarborough and the surrounding communities. The new reservoir will provide the storage capacity needed to maintain service standards while allowing the safe retirement of existing infrastructure.

“We look forward to working closely with Yorkshire Water to deliver a durable asset that will serve customers for decades to come.”

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