Plans are underway to build a major new aqueduct through the heart of the North West.

United Utilities is proposing to build a 54km water pipeline linking Liverpool and Bury, to help move water supplies around the region.

The £125 million scheme will involve laying the new pipeline from Prescot reservoir in Merseyside to Woodgate Hill reservoir in Bury, Greater Manchester, and will take around two years to complete.

Ian McAulay, United Utilities Managing Director of Capital Programmes, said: "Pipelines like this are the motorways of the water supply network, and this will be one of the biggest engineering projects we have ever undertaken.

"It is all part of our long-term plan to make sure we keep reliable water supplies on tap for our 7 million customers in the North West. The engineering challenges are big but the project is vital to give us more flexibility in the future during times of drought or when we need to carry out maintenance on other major aqueducts in the region. For this reason it is important that we start construction soon."

The 1.2 metre diameter underground pipeline will be able to carry up to 100 million litres of water a day between Merseyside and Greater Manchester. If this was transported via the M62 it would take 4,000 road tankers a day!

Engineers will need to build 15 separate tunnels along the pipeline route to cross obstacles including the M6, M61, M66, River Irwell, River Roch and the West Coast railway line. These would involve special tunnelling machines working at depths of up to 20 metres.

The plans are already being discussed with more than 200 landowners and the eight different councils along the proposed route of the pipeline. The company hopes to be in a position to start work on the scheme early in 2009, for completion by spring 2011.

The North West's oldest aqueduct still in use is the Longdendale Aqueduct, completed in 1851, which carries water from the south Pennines into Manchester. It is part of a water supply legacy begun by the Victorians who also tapped into water sources in the Lake District (Thirlmere Aqueduct, 1894) and North Wales (Vyrnwy Aqueduct, 1891).

Traditionally, North Wales water is fed into Merseyside while Lake District water supplies Greater Manchester, but the new aqueduct will be able to transfer water between the two conurbations in either direction.

Ian added: "We inherited a marvellous water supply network from our Victorian predecessors and over the decades since then we have strengthened and expanded the network.

"The new pipeline will be the latest chapter in the North West's water supply story and in 100 years our descendants will look back with similar pride.

"This is just one of the many thousands of projects funded with money from our customers' water bills to improve services for the future."

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Aqua-facts

Many people think of a bridge over a valley when they think of an aqueduct. But the term can be used to describe any channel or pipeline that transports water, either overland or underground. Some aqueducts carry drinking water, others are large enough to be navigated by boats.

Oldest...

The world's earliest aqueduct was built in around 690 BC in Assyria. King Sennacherib of Assyria ordered construction of the aqueduct of Jerwan, which brought water from a tributary of the Greater Zab River to Nineveh, 80km away.

Longest...

The longest aqueduct in the world is the 714km California Aqueduct which runs from the Sacramento Delta to Lake Perris.

Strangest...

Water, oil and gas pipelines are common. But what about a beer pipeline?!
The Veltins Arena, a major football stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, has a 5km-long beer pipeline. It links the different bars in the arena to a central beer storage tank.