£7m highways super drain deployed beneath M5

Costing £7m and taking 10 months to put in place, National Highways has celebrated the use of a 'pioneering drainage system' deployed underneath the M5 at Oldbury to filter water runoff.

The system is thought to be the largest of its kind inM5 the country and will help to capture debris and pollutants before water runoff from the M5 is discharged into the water course.

It is made up of 10 filters and will help improve the quality of rainwater entering the canal after it has fallen on the M5 carriageway.

National Highways Project Manager Colin Jackson said: 'This new drainage system is a real boost to the local canal network that runs underneath the M5 Oldbury viaduct.

'We know that the local habitat is a crucial part of the landscape at Oldbury and we’re confident this new system will play a significant role in helping biodiversity.'

'The drainage has a special filter installed inside the pipework which is designed to capture debris and pollutants before entering the water network which can then simply be removed by specialists at regular intervals.'

It took around eight months to put in place with teams using specialist equipment to dig down between the foundations under the M5 to install the new system. Though the installation took place without impacting traffic.