A major flood project in South Belfast has reached an important milestone.

Phase one of the scheme in the Marguerite Park area has officially been completed ahead of schedule, upgrading the local sewerage infrastructure and substantially reducing the risk of out-of-sewer flooding.

Work on this major project commenced within the grounds of Musgrave Park in April 2022, with BSG Civil Engineering Ltd appointed as the main contractor for this phase and Atkins providing Project Management services. 

Mark Sefton, NI Water's Senior Project Manager said: "The aim of this £8 million project, which was funded through the Living With Water Programme (LWWP) which is led by the Department for Infrastructure, was to increase the capacity of the existing network, reducing the risk of out-of-sewer flooding and environmental pollution within the Marguerite Park area.  

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"The local community will benefit from the improvements for many years to come, and the completion of phase one will also pave the way for future work in the Sicily Park area.

"NI Water and our project team appreciate that work was disruptive in a busy residential area and would like to sincerely thank the local community and all our stakeholders for their patience and support throughout this essential scheme."

Phase one involved laying a total of 1.3km new large diameter sewers, which were constructed from the Grovelands area of Musgrave Park, through the park grounds, Musgrave Park Hospital, Malone College, crossing under the railway line and through private lands into Diamond Gardens/Marguerite Park and Donegall Park.

Approximately 800 metres of the new sewers were constructed using underground micro-tunnelling techniques, which included crossing under the main Belfast to Dublin railway line. Tunnelling techniques significantly reduced disruption to customers, particularly within Musgrave Park/Musgrave Park Hospital and Malone College.

The final section of pipelaying was laid throughout Diamond Gardens, Marguerite Park and Donegall Park.