Teesworks watercourse reaches ‘pivotal milestone’

Construction of an £18 million surface water drainage system at the giant Teesworks site has reached a milestone.

Water has now broken through from the River Tees into the South Bank Watercourse, which is designed to manage surface water run-off from the 90-acre SeAH Wind facility and future developments on South Bank and Dorman Point. 

Designed as a natural stream with a gravel bed and landscaped banks, the system also includes more than 350 metres of culvert and a new salt marsh habitat.

More than 100,000 cubic metres of recycled aggregates from the former Redcar steelworks site have been used to build the drainage system. 

The project has been carried out by multiple contractors, including Hall Construction, Applebridge Construction and Seymour Civil Engineering.

John McNicholas, engineering and programme director at Teesworks, said: “We’re delighted to see the South Bank Watercourse reaching this pivotal milestone.

“The sheer scale of the works has been something to behold.

“We are particularly pleased to see the extent to which we have been able to make best use of the resources on our own doorstep, through the extensive recycling of earthworks materials for use in the project’s channel bed and banks.”

Following the watercourse works completion, the next phase includes the £3 million final stage of the Knitting Wife Beck diversion at Dorman Point, followed by a £10 million upgrade of a four-bay bridge underpass beneath the Saltburn-Darlington railway, linking Holme Beck and Knitting Wife Beck to the South Bank Watercourse.

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