Thames Water has apologised after causing delays to the Fleming Way Bus Boulevard project

There were issues with moving water mains to allow work to continue that hampered the development of the scheme. 

Thames Water will now be entering into legal discussions with Swindon Borough Council about how much money it might pay the local authority in recompense for the weeks and months of delay.

To allow the project to be completed, in particular the lowering of the level of Fleming Way to enable pedestrian access across it instead of using the old underpass, utility cables had to be identified and moved, including replacing an existing 18-inch-wide water main and replacing it.

A design was produced for the work in September 2022, but work did not start on it until May 2024, for a number of reasons, and then Thames Water’s contractors said the design wasn’t good enough and could not be completed.

The redesign and extra work meant that the completion date was moved back to the end of September. And then, no sooner had all the work been finished than Fleming Way was flooded because the new mains pipe had not been attached properly.”

Speaking to the council’s Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Thames Water’s project engineer Cyril Okonkwo said: “It was a long and painful process.

“It could have been better; it could have taken a shorter time.”

Asked by Councillor Dan Adams what he would say should be done differently, Mr Okwonko said: “I’d say that Thames Water would take responsibility for the design and construction process.”

Asked by committee chairman Councillor Dale Heenan whether the company has outsourced too much of its work on the project Mr Okonkwo said it had many projects to work on, and that it had exceeded its design capability and it was common to buy in help from specialist design houses.

Asked by Councillor Gary Sumner whether the borough council might expect financial reparation from Thames Water for the extra time and costs that  delays to its work caused the whole project and therefore the public purse, the utility company’s strategic development manager John Hernon said: “There is a process to determine reasonable costs, and we can now go through that process.”

The council’s project manager for the whole Fleming Way scheme Claire Alexander told the committee that summer 2025 is still the anticipated date for the completion of the programme and the opening of the road again.

Swindon Borough Council declined to outline how much money it might be seeking in reparation.