Yorkshire Water and its contract partners Mott MacDonald Bentley have confirmed work is progressing well on the £750,000 project to repair a stretch of sewage pipe which runs along Whitby Harbour.
The work, which is expected to take up to 20 weeks, is now in its fourth week, with technicians working to improve the resolve of the pipe and protect it from the tidal forces which have weakened the pipe over the last ten years. This is being achieved by encasing the sewer in mass concrete before a structural liner is added to the inside of the pipe to reinforce it.
The work has so far seen a five meter section of sewer reinforced and encased in concrete, with the team hoping to complete a new five meter stretch each week going forward.
Miles Cameron, sewerage asset manager at Yorkshire Water, commented:
"We're delighted with how things are progressing so far and would like to say a big thank you to local residents and visitors to Whitby for all their patience and support.
"Their goodwill and help has enabled us to make good progress and we want to reassure them that we'll continue to work hard to ensure that we complete the work as quickly as possible with the minimum amount of disruption."
Prior to the work beginning on the harbour, Yorkshire Water held a special forum with local business owners, residents and other key stakeholders prior to discuss the problems in the harbour and the work it is carrying out in Whitby, with the company planning to stage a second update meeting in August.
"The forum was really useful in enabling us to properly communicate our plans and address any concerns that attendees might have, and with work now well underway, we're planning on staging a second forum on 20 August to provide a further update and learn of any new concerns from local representatives and act on these as appropriate," said Miles Cameron.
Work is also ongoing on Yorkshire Water's £350,000 project to build a computerised 3D model of the entire Whitby sewage system, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2011.
With the UK government demanding a 50% reduction in storm overflow spills by 2029, the era of reactive management is over. Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 July 2025, then environment secretary Steve Reed said, “This Government will cut water companies’ sewage pollution in half by the end of the decade.”
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