The dotted yellow line shows the existing drain; the dotted red line marks the route where trenches will be dug for the new drain; and the dotted green line shows the new drain (which will not need trenches).

Work begins on Monday 8 July on an essential upgrade to the existing drainage system in the southern part of campus.

The drainage works, which will take nearly four months, will affect the main spinal route of the campus along the pedestrian path from Arts Road, past Shawcross and Chichester 1, across the green at Arts A, through Fulton Court (Library Square), down Gardner Centre Road and to the south-west of Falmer House.

The work will be carried out in phased sections. The trench digging at each section will be noisy; deliveries to nearby buildings will be disrupted; and pedestrians and drivers will be diverted via alternative routes as appropriate.

Lorries will be driving on and off campus throughout the working day – but, to minimise daytime lorry traffic, where possible it will be restricted to the hours before 8.30am and after 5.30pm.

As the work will be extremely disruptive to campus users, as much as possible is being carried out during the summer vacation.

And to minimise disruption, work will pause at key times, e.g. around Mandela Hall and the Sport Centre during exam resits from 26 August-6 September and during the Welcome Weekend for new students from 14-15 September.

The upgrade is needed because the existing drainage system is near capacity during peak periods and, with only a single connection to the public drain, it is vulnerable to backing up and flooding if a blockage occurs.

Nor does the existing system have sufficient capacity to cope with the increased flow and volume that will be generated by the planned increase in student numbers to 18,000 students by 2018.

In order to accommodate the forthcoming redevelopment of East Slope and the future construction of a new science building, additional drains are required around campus to provide increased capacity.

Maureen Cherry, who is managing the project for Estates, explains: “The upgrade will provide both short-term resilience and long-term additional capacity to allow the University to plan for future growth.”

So a new, additional drain will divert flow from the existing main 'spine' drain outside Shawcross and take it round Falmer House.

The existing drain will be left in place so that there is a twin pipe system to provide alternative routes if one should block, or if maintenance is required.

Further information about the project is available online. If you have any questions or comments, E efmhelpdesk@sussex.ac.uk or call ext 7777.