Superpipe work hit by delays, firm says

Work to bury a two-mile-long pipe in a trench under the sea at Anchorsholme has been delayed, United Utilities said.
Workers installing the pipe at AnchorsholmeWorkers installing the pipe at Anchorsholme
Workers installing the pipe at Anchorsholme

The huge outfall pipe – the biggest in the UK – should have been buried by now, but engineers working on the multi-million pound project to improve Blackpool’s bathing water say progress has been hindered by choppy sea conditions in recent days.

The pipe was also caught on a mound of earth – left over from digging the trench – when workers tried to pull it straight, though it has not been damaged, the firm said.

The pipe is not set to work for another 18 months, a spokesman added, while the work is ‘not time sensitive’.