M6 purple pipes reused for school sports pitch

Purple pipes from the M6 used during an upgrade of the road have been repurposed for a local school sports field.

The pipes became a common sight during major upgrade works on the M6 and some have been donated to Sandbach school as boundaries for their sports pitch. The £265million roadworks are updating a 19-mile stretch of the road to ease congestion and install up-to-date technology to monitor traffic.

The pipes were used by Highways England to store electrical wires and were secured on top of a concrete safety barrier. Highways England has also teamed up with the Football Association to assist Manchester City fans travelling to Wembley in May.

Arun Sahni, Project Manager at Highways England, said: “The improvements we’ve made to the M6 are benefitting the tens of thousands of drivers who travel on the key route between the Midlands and North West every day.

“We’ve also been keen to make sure that local communities have been able to benefit from the scheme while the work has been taking place, and it’s great to see the purple pipes we used on the motorway have now found a new life at Sandbach School.

“I’d like to pass on my thanks to everyone who worked on the scheme for going the extra mile to get the project finished ahead of schedule, and to local residents for bearing with us while we carried out the upgrade.”

Jake Davies, Groundsman at Sandbach School, said: “Everyone’s been massively impressed with the pipes since they were donated to the school as we can use them to create smaller pitches for the different year groups and they stop balls disappearing. They’ve saved us a lot of money and work really well!”

Since the pipes were donated the school has enjoyed sporting success, with two teams qualifying for the North of England School Champions and another reaching the national finals at the Olympic Park in London. The three-year upgrade to the M6 is due to be completed later this year.

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