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Upper Thurne Integrated Drainage Improvement Project, Potter Heigham Pumping Station Replacement, Martham Pumping Station Replacement, Brograve Pumping Station Replacement
Construction progresses across Upper Thurne Project July / August 2026
Work continues to make strong progress across the Upper Thurne Integrated Drainage Project, with significant construction milestones achieved during July and further activity planned throughout August.
Construction is now well underway at Potter Heigham, Martham and Brograve pumping station sites, as the programme continues to modernise critical flood risk infrastructure across the Upper Thurne catchment.
At Potter Heigham and Martham, sheet piling has now been successfully completed. With the excavation of the wet wells also finished, work has moved on to the next phase, where reinforced concrete bases and walls are being cast to form the foundations of the new pumping station wet well structures.
Meanwhile, construction has gathered pace at Brograve, with sheet piling now underway. Over the coming weeks, this work will be completed before heavy plant excavates the wet well within the sheet-piled enclosure. The site will then be prepared for the casting of the concrete base and walls later this month, marking another important step forward in the delivery of the project.
What is sheet piling? What is a wet well?
Sheet piling is a construction technique used to create a strong, largely watertight enclosure below ground.
Interlocking steel sheets are driven deep into the ground to form the permanent retaining walls for construction of the wet well. The sheet piles transfer the load of the pumping station to the ground to prevent settlement.
Once the sheet piles are installed, the soil inside the enclosure is excavated to create the pumping station sump, known as a wet well.
Concrete is then poured to form the base and walls of the wet well, creating the permanent underground chamber within the which the pumps are housed.
