Amount awarded: £1,340,610
Led by: Thames Water
Partners: Greater London Authority
The risk of flooding in London from heavy rain is increasing. This project incentivises utility companies to refill some of the 165,000 holes they dig in London every year with ‘sustainable drainage systems’ (such as raingardens). These will reduce strain on drains from rainwater and create a greener city.
“We already work with the GLA and other utility companies to deliver shared streetworks projects to reduce disruption to Londoners. This project will take it to the next level, using the opportunities created by street works to deliver green flood risk solutions that will benefit customers, society and the environment.” – Nevil Muncaster, Engineering & Asset Director, Thames Water
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The premise of this project is to develop and test a market-based approach to significantly scale up delivery of SuDS by seeking to install them in some of the 160,000 planned streetworks in London on an annual basis. Ultimately, this project empowers us to reimagine street works delivery, creating greener, more flood-resilient neighbourhoods, directly benefiting Londoners and the environment.
Significant exploratory work was undertaken during 2023 to create a proof of concept and engage with wider stakeholders on this work including utilities, London boroughs and the Environment Agency.
Since we were announced as winners, we have been setting up the project and planning. Both TW and GLA have been advancing with the procurement of suppliers for the workstreams (P1 – data platform, P2 – specialist advice and P3 – technical deep dives). GLA have appointed Arcadis LLP to deliver the data workstream and Arup and Partners Ltd to deliver the technical deep dive workstream. The ambition is to launch pilots next year and test the proof of concept.
We are delivering this project in collaboration with our stakeholders and interested parties. A project launch event will take place at the City Hall in December and plans for this are underway.
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