Clancy lands £39m Southern Water Andover Link Main pipeline

Clancy is set to sign a £39m contract to design and build Southern Water's Andover Link Main pipeline in Hampshire. The contractor's appointment is expected to be confirmed at the end of the month, according to Construction Enquirer.

The deal covers the full delivery chain. Clancy will handle detailed design, enabling works and construction of the 22.8km underground pipeline, plus support for discharging planning conditions and securing environmental permits.

The route runs between Crab Wood service reservoir near Winchester and Micheldever Road service reservoir on the outskirts of Andover. New and upgraded pumping infrastructure will sit alongside the pipe.

What does this change for Hampshire's water?

Capacity is the headline number. The scheme will allow up to 15 million litres of water a day to move in either direction between the two reservoirs. That bolsters supplies to the isolated Andover water resource zone (the area supplied from a single set of local sources) while reducing pressure on the rivers Test and Itchen, both of which face abstraction stress.

It's a drought resilience project first, a transport link second. Bidirectional flow means either end of the system can support the other during dry spells.

Timeline and engineering scope

Some early preparation work, such as vegetation clearance, is expected to start later this year. Full construction is likely to begin in winter 2027 and last 3.5 years, putting completion around mid-2031.

Southern Water's earlier engineering proposals identified:

• Trenchless crossings (tunnelling under obstacles rather than digging open trenches) of the rivers Test and Dever
• Multiple crossings of the A303

The pipeline has a planned 100-year design life. Southern Water is targeting at least 10% biodiversity net gain — leaving habitats measurably better than before construction.

Planning applications went to Winchester City Council and Test Valley Borough Council earlier this year.

Why the contract matters now

A £39m single-package award covering design, enabling works, construction and permitting support gives Clancy end-to-end control of a scheme with complex river and trunk-road crossings. For Southern Water, it consolidates delivery risk with one contractor as drought resilience investment accelerates across the southeast of England.

With confirmation due at month's end and enabling works starting this year, the Andover Link Main moves from planning paperwork to shovels in the ground — and Hampshire's river ecosystems stand to feel the difference first.