Designing for such an isolated community presented a variety of challenges and required innovative, out-of-the-box thinking. With extreme weather conditions in the region, the design had to be resilient against bushfires, extreme heat, cyclones and flooding, as well as remain accessible during the wet season when the river floods and crocodiles inhabit the river. Other local constraints included a lack of access to electricity, and as future maintenance would be undertaken by the local residents, the design needed to be suitable for a non-technical community.
Home to over 50,000 people, this part of Wales has historically suffered from repeated flooding by wastewater, an experience that is devastating to local people. To protect homes, businesses and roads at times of heavy rainfall, wastewater from the area’s combined sewerage system has historically been discharged into the estuary via combined sewer overflows. To safeguard the environment, and in line with its long-term vision, our client Welsh Water committed to reducing the number of these overflow events from 120 to 30 per year.
Arup’s water engineers used a catchment-wide approach to provide a resilient, environmentally sustainable and cost-effective solution.
Newcastle Local Municipality