Piling work estimated to cost £6 million set to begin at Wilstone Reservoir

The work, which is expected to take around five months, will see canal charity The Canal and River Trust install 2,000 steel piles into the 200-year-old reservoir’s embankments.

Site preparations for the project started in March at the reservoir, which was built in 1802 and is part of the Tring Reservoirs Nature Reserve Site of Special Scientific Interest.

It is the largest of the four reservoirs at 119 acres and is up to 18 feet deep, with capacity to hold more than one million mega litres of water, the equivalent of over 300,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The piling work, which is scheduled to begin on Monday June 30, is expected to be completed in March 2026.

Rob Daniels, a director at the Canal and River Trust explained that there would be road, footpath and car park closures in place near to Wilstone Reservoir during the works.

“Our programme of statutory safety works at Wilstone Reservoir are required under the Reservoir Act,” Daniels explained.

“They include creating a temporary access track and driving two thousand 11-metre long steel sheet piles into the reservoir’s embankments, to strengthen them and secure the reservoir for the future.

“Our construction contractor Kier will use land-based equipment to carry out the works.

“This means we’ve been able to keep the water in the reservoir, so it can continue to supply water to the canal.

“Most of the piling work will be carried out using a method that reduces noise to minimise disruption to wildlife and people.

“To facilitate the works, we’ve had to temporarily close the footpath that runs along the top of the reservoir dam.

“Pedestrians are being diverted through the field next to the reservoir, maintaining access to the farm shop and café, which will remain open throughout the works.

“We plan to close the Wilstone Reservoir car park in early September for around four months, while we complete the piling work and build a new footpath along the top of the dam.

“We will also need to temporarily close the road next to Wilstone Reservoir’s car park for approximately four weeks at the beginning of September 2025.

“A traffic diversion will be in place, and the farm shop and café will remain accessible. It won’t be possible to fish at the reservoir during the main construction element of the works from May 2025 to March 2026.

“The reservoir is an important wildlife site and once the engineering works are completed, we’ll carry out some improvements to the reed beds, and we’ll replace the nine small and medium-sized trees which unfortunately had been removed ahead of the works.”

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