On one of the hottest days of the year, a small group of Australian engineers visited the Thames Tideway Kirtling Street site, located on the southern bank of the River Thames, London.
Although six weeks late in being able to see either of the 7.2-meter Tunnel Boring Machines (named Millicent and Ursula) be lowered into the ground, the site visit allowed the viewing of the new piled jetty and waste conveyor system.
The Thames Tideway Tunnel currently the key project for updating the 150-year-old sewer system that London has long relied on. Whilst the old Victorian system was still in good condition, the increased rapid growth of London’s population was simply overwhelming it.
The project began in 2014, with the physical works on the tunnel starting in 2018.
“We spent most of the time at the viewing gallery overlooking the 30 metre diameter, 53-metre-deep, shaft from which the two TBM’s, Ursula and Millicent, will be driven from,” Nicola Telcik, Senior Project Manager at Gardiner and Theobald, explained.
“Today the site team are finalising the reinforcement fixing ahead of the concrete base pour. Tunnel boring works to commence in September”.
Once completed the ‘super sewer’ will be the biggest infrastructure project ever undertaken by the UK water industry, and will be 25 kilometres long, 66 meters deep and more than 7 meters wide.
“We would like to thank our generous hosts today, Michael Appleton and Paul Hallows, for showing us the tidiest site, and compound, any of us have seen”.
Further updates on the Thames Tideway Project can be found here.
Image: Courtesy of Nicola Telcik (Senior Project Manager at Gardiner & Theobald, London)