Work to prevent major flooding on Edinburgh road will take 12 months to complete

Following the major flooding in Edinburgh, utilities giant Scottish Water is starting work to improve the wastewater infrastructure in Craigleith Road, aiming to protect properties against further flooding.

Let us know what you think and join the conversation at the bottom of this article.

The project will take around 12 months to complete, increasing the capacity of the sewer network to better protect properties and streets from both internal and external flooding. Existing infrastructure requires upgrading to allow it to better handle the impacts of changing weather, including rainfall that exceeds current capacity. This type of rainfall has been seen recently all over Edinburgh amid a yellow thunderstorm warning, causing road chaos and vehicles getting stuck in floods.

Ahead of the main construction works, which are due to start mid-September, some free felling will be carried out from today, August 18th. This will be happening within land on the south east corner of the former Royal Victoria Hospital site, adjacent to the existing gate house. This is to enable the installation of an access road and a storm water storage tank, sizing at 12 metre diameter, 10 metre deep.

Scottish Water want to avoid a repeat of scenes like this one at Slateford Railway Bridge. (Photo: Sam Shedden).

READ MORE: Edinburgh road closure forces supermarket lorries to make awkward manoeuvre and turn back

A total of around 225 metres of larger sewer pipes will be installed along Craigleith Road and Orchard Bank. Following the completion of this project, City of Edinburgh Council planning department has agreed tree planting will take place to offset those taken down at the beginning of the work.

There will be a road closure on Craigleith Road from mid-September for the duration of the project with local access only allowed, with a diversion in place via Orchard Brae and Queensferry Road.

Traffic calming road humps will also be installed along Orchard Road in the last week of August, taking around two weeks to complete. These safety measures agreed by City of Edinburgh Council are to discourage the use of Orchard Road as a ‘rat run’, instead of the agreed diversion route.

Craigleith road closures map.

READ MORE: Edinburgh Flooding: Severe rain in Capital with cars stuck and diversions in place

Scott Fraser, Scottish Water’s Regional Corporate Affairs Manager, said: “It’s great news that this work to help reduce the risk of flooding is getting underway.

" Sewer flooding can cause a great deal of distress for people and the work being done here will benefit a number of residents on Craigleith Road who have been affected by sewer flooding in previous years.

"We are seeing the impacts the changing climate is having, including heavy intensive rainfall, on our sewer networks and projects like this are vital to help maintain service for our customers.”

Bruce Macgregor, Delivery Manager for contractor Amey-Binnies, said: “We appreciate that there will be disruption to the local community during the construction, but we will do everything we can do to minimise the impact. We would like to thank everyone impacted for their patience and understanding.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.