NEXT WEEK Canal & River Trust will begin installing 2,000 steel piles into a 200 years old reservoir’s embankments.
This starts a 15 months programme of statutory works at Wilstone Reservoir, that feeds the Grand Union Canal.
Cost £15 millions
The project, estimated to cost £15 millions, started in March with site preparations, and is expected to be completed in March 2026. The piling work is expected to take around five months.
Built in 1802 to supply water to the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal, Wilstone Reservoir is part of the Tring Reservoirs Nature Reserve Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). At 119 acres, Wilstone is the largest of the four reservoirs. It is up to 18 feet (5.5 metres) deep and has the capacity to hold over one million mega litres of water, the equivalent of over 300,000 Olympic sized swimming pools. The reservoir has two five metre wide embankments stretching for a total of 1,350 metres and ranging in height from two to eight metres.
Popular site
Ros Daniels, Canal & River Trust’s London & South East director, explains:
“Wilstone Reservoir provides an important place for water storage for the Grand Union Canal and has also become a popular site for angling, walking and bird watching.
“Our programme of statutory safety works at Wilstone Reservoir are required under the Reservoir Act. They include creating a temporary access track and driving two thousand 11 metres long steel sheet piles into the reservoir’s embankments, to strengthen them and secure the reservoir for the future.
“Our construction contractor Kier will use land-based equipment to carry out the works. This means we’ve been able to keep the water in the reservoir, so it can continue to supply water to the canal. Most of the piling work will be carried out using a method that reduces noise to minimise disruption to wildlife and people."
