United Utilities has announced a £3 billion agreement with Cascade Infrastructure to deliver a major upgrade of the 70-year-old Haweswater Aqueduct, which supplies 2.5 million customers across Greater Manchester and Lancashire.
The 110km pipeline, built in the 1950s, carries 570 million litres of water a day from Cumbria – almost 250 Olympic-sized pools – and has long been considered a feat of engineering. Its replacement, the Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme (HARP), is regarded as one of the largest water infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Britain.
Cascade Infrastructure, a consortium led by Austrian contractor Strabag, will design, build, finance and maintain the scheme. The consortium also includes Equitix and GLIL Infrastructure, the latter an investment company backed by the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and London Pensions Fund Authority. Strabag Equitix Consortium had previously been named preferred bidder for the design and construction contract last January, while Turner & Townsend was appointed as independent technical adviser.
The £3bn programme will be delivered under a Direct Procurement for Customers model, the first of its kind in the UK water sector, designed to provide best value for bill payers. Construction will begin in 2026 and involve replacing six tunnel sections. Most of the work will be done below ground with tunnel boring machines.
United Utilities Chief Executive Louise Beardmore said: “Making the North West stronger, greener and healthier is at the heart of everything we do. Today marks a significant step to ensure we have the right infrastructure to provide a resilient water supply to communities right across the region for decades to come and, at the same time, creating hundreds of great quality jobs and delivering on the commitments and promises we have set out.”
Water Minister Emma Hardy called HARP part of “one of the largest infrastructure projects ever seen in Britain”, while Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham stressed its importance for both growth and employment.
Ofwat, which approved the scheme, described it as a “sector first” that sets a benchmark for innovation and collaboration.
