Construction of an £18 million surface water drainage system at Teesworks has reached a significant milestone, with water now flowing from the River Tees into the newly constructed South Bank Watercourse.

This vital infrastructure is designed to manage the large volumes of surface water runoff generated by the vast Teesworks development.

The watercourse will initially handle the considerable water drainage needs of the 90-acre SeAH Wind turbine monopile manufacturing facility, which is nearing completion. Given the scale of the facility, rainwater runoff will be substantial, particularly during heavy storms. Therefore, all developments in the South Bank and Dorman Point areas of Teesworks require a system that can efficiently manage surface water to ensure smooth operations. The South Bank Watercourse will play a crucial role in meeting this need.

Spanning up to 8 metres in depth and 1.9 kilometres in length, the new watercourse has been built primarily as an open channel, functioning as a natural stream that filters water and mitigates pollution. It features a gravel bed and landscaped banks, discharging water into the River Tees. The system also includes over 350 linear meters of buried culvert, which allows the watercourse to pass beneath development land.


A key feature of the project is the large intertidal section where the watercourse meets the River Tees. This section will create an ecologically valuable salt marsh habitat, providing a natural haven for wildlife.

The watercourse's structural integrity is supported by gabion basket walls—cages filled with stones. These walls have been constructed using recycled aggregates sourced from Teesworks' land remediation projects, previously the site of a steelworks. This approach eliminates the need to import natural quarried stone, reducing both costs and the environmental impact of the project. In total, more than 100,000 cubic meters of recycled aggregates have been used.

John McNicholas, Engineering and Programme Director at Teesworks, said: "We're delighted to see the South Bank Watercourse reaching this pivotal milestone. The sheer scale of the works has been something to behold, but equally, the logistical challenges that have had to be overcome in delivering the scheme through live construction sites, where multiple remediation, infrastructure, and building projects have been progressing simultaneously, are impressive. We are particularly pleased to see how we’ve made the best use of resources on our doorstep, through extensive recycling of earthworks materials for the channel bed and banks."

Several companies have been involved in delivering this major civil engineering project. Hall Construction Services was the main contractor for phase one, with Applebridge Construction taking over for subsequent phases, including the final phase. The project also includes the diversion and upgrade of two existing watercourses—Holme Beck and Knitting Wife Beck—that traverse the 60-hectare Dorman Point development zone, with the water eventually flowing into the South Bank section.

Seymour Civil Engineering Ltd worked on the Holme Beck diversion and upgrade, while Hall Construction Services handled the first phase of the Knitting Wife Beck diversion and upgrade. Phi Group and Enviromesh were key subcontractors, responsible for constructing the gabion basket retaining walls in the first and subsequent phases, respectively.

Looking ahead, the next phase of the project will see the construction of the £3 million second and final phase of the Knitting Wife Beck diversion at Dorman Point. Following that, a £10 million reconstruction of an existing four-bay bridge underpass beneath the Saltburn to Darlington railway corridor will connect the Holme Beck and Knitting Wife Beck channels to the South Bank Watercourse.