Melbourne Water is building a new sewer to connect the Maribyrnong River Main (MRM) Sewer to the North Western Sewer (NWS) in Maidstone.

The NWS transports wastewater to the Western Treatment Plant in Werribee. The new sewer will meet the needs of a growing population and increase capacity for future sewage flows, while ensuring local amenity, environment, heritage and community interests are protected and enhanced during the delivery of the project.

Safety Focused Performance Joint Venture are delivering the project on our behalf.

Quick poll results: we heard you

We conducted a quick poll online to ask your preference for being kept informed about the project. You told us you would most prefer to be kept up-to-date via email.

We will send regular email updates through the project YourSay page. We encourage you to tell your neighbours, family and friends who live in Maidstone and Avondale Heights to also follow the project page to receive these updates.

We’ll continue to keep the community informed in other ways as well, including bulletins delivered to household letterboxes.

Community evaluation survey

We have engaged an independent company, Evaluation Solutions, to conduct a community evaluation survey. The survey will help us to understand the level of community awareness of the project, your experience so far and any concerns you may have, and the value of the information we’ve distributed.

The survey is anonymous and participation is voluntary, however your opinions are valued and we encourage you to provide your feedback.

Complete the survey at www.e-valuate-it.com/survey/MW/mrm-nws before Monday 21 March 2022. Use the code A64812 to access the survey.

Construction works have started!

A project office has been set up at the Williamson Road site. This site is where the tunnel boring machine (TBM) will be launched from, tunnelling underground for 800 metres before surfacing again inside Medway Golf Club.

Construction of the launch shaft for the TBM has started. The shaft – an 8 metre-wide by 40 metre-deep hole – will be excavated by drilling into the hard rock layers and using large machinery, craned in and out of the shaft, to remove the rock and dirt as we go down.

In order to reduce the impact on the local community, we’ll be using a ‘drill and blast’ method to get through heavy rock. What this means is that small amounts of explosives will be used to break the rock once every three days. The timber wall around the perimeter of the site will assist with minimising noise and there will be audible safety warnings when blastings occur (under five seconds duration). For the safety of pedestrians and motorists, all traffic will be stopped on Hampstead Road when blasting occurs. This is anticipated to be a two minute disruption. Traffic controllers will be on site to advise and assist at these times.

The TBM is expected to be delivered to site in August with the tunnelling scheduled to commence in September. The TBM will operate 24-hours a day, Monday to Saturday.

Works along the river valley are still in the detailed design phase, with construction scheduled to commence in the coming months. The first activity will be setting up a small site compound and creation of vehicle access tracks to the work areas along the river banks.

Properties neighbouring these areas will be provided with further details. The project team has been working closely with Medway Golf Club to keep our disturbance to the course to a minimum.

Bridge works

Construction of the sewer will include building a new pipe bridge over the Maribyrnong River to carry the sewer pipe safely over the river. The new bridge offers an exciting opportunity to include an improved river crossing for Maribyrnong River Trail users.

New Maribyrnong River Trail connection

We are working with Maribyrnong City Council to build a new shared pathway to connect the Maribyrnong River Trail on the southern side of the river. This path currently ends at the Village Green on Saltwater Crescent. The new path will allow users on the southern side of the river to continue along from Medway Golf Couse to Cranwell Park and beyond.

Temporary closure of Maribyrnong River Trail –

While we undertake works on the northern side of the river, including building the new bridge and connecting the new sewer to the MRM sewer, the Maribyrnong River Trail will be closed for 6-8 months along the north bank from Canning Street Reserve to M102 water pipe bridge.

Clearly marked detours will be in place for the duration of the closure. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, and thank the community for your patience and cooperation while we complete these important works.

More information including the timing of the closure will be provided in future updates

More information

Please contact our project team if you would like more information about the project or if you have any questions or concerns.

Phone us on 1800 712 434 or email [email protected].