Craigleith Road Sewer Flooding Project Complete

A major sewer upgrade investment to help protect homes in Craigleith from sewer flooding is complete.

Residents on Craigleith Road will now see the benefits of an important investment to improve the wastewater infrastructure by increasing the capacity of the sewer network to better protect properties and streets from external and internal sewer flooding. 

This investment saw the utility install a storm water storage tank which is 12 metre diameter, 10 metre deep within land on the south east corner of the former Royal Victoria Hospital site adjacent to the existing gate house. 225 meters of upsized sewer pipes were also installed along Craigleith Road and Orchard Bank Road.

Craigleith - which had to be closed for 10 months to enable the installation of the upsized sewer pipes along with a new bifurcation weir chamber - was reopened ahead of schedule in July 2022.

Brian Whyte, Head of Operations for amey-binnes said: “We would like to thank the community for their understanding during this significant investment for the area. Due to the nature of the construction, this project has been disruptive, but the locals have been very patient. The site team kept residents informed of changes to their access throughout the works and made themselves available to assist with any queries or specific needs customers may have had.

Scott Fraser, Scottish Water Corporate Affairs Manager, said: “We know how much this investment means to residents who experienced internal flooding at times of heavy rainfall, which can overwhelm the sewer network. This work should significantly reduce the risk of future sewer flooding in Craigleith.

“We would like to thank the community and everyone else impacted while this work was carried out for their patience. We also want to highlight how, as we have invested in improving the sewer network, people can help us take care of it by only flushing the 3Ps – pee, poo and (toilet) paper and backing a ban on wet wipes through Scottish Water's Nature Calls campaign.

The main construction work is now complete with the commissioning of the new infrastructure currently under way.