VolkerFitzpatrick Southern Renewals Enterprise (SRE) has completed a 10-week closure of The Blackheath tunnel for repairs.
The VolkerFitzpatrick SRE team helped Network Rail’s Works Delivery team complete the £10 million programme of essential repairs.
Works included:
- Specialist industrial vacuum to clean away old soot
- Fitting more than 10,000 new bricks
- detailed structural and ground surveys, ahead of further work next year
Work was required as the mile-long tunnel, opened in 1849, is prone to leaks and water damage.
The tunnel’s brickwork had been damaged by freezing and thawing of rainwater that filters through the ground into the tunnel.
Last year faults in the tunnel led to around 1,000 minutes of delay for Southeastern customers.
Network Rail is investing £1.35 billion to improve the railway in Kent and South East London between 2024-2029.
VolkerFitzpatrick is the Building and Civils partner for the Southern Renewals Enterprise in partnership with AtkinsRéalis, Octavius, VolkerRail and Network Rail, to deliver the southern region’s £9 billion renewals portfolio between 2024 and 2034.
Mike Sheridan operations director for buildings and civils at VolkerFitzpatrick, said: “Our team at Blackheath tunnel have done a fantastic job in challenging circumstances to complete these works.
“Our Buildings & Civils and Works Delivery team have worked collaboratively and as a result have conducted maintenance on 5x more of the structure than planned and have been able to repair 50 per cent more of the brickwork than originally planned.
“It’s a real example of the SRE model working in practice to deliver real, tangible efficiencies for passengers and freight users. Congratulations to the project team and everyone involved.”
David Davidson, Network Rail’s route director for Kent, said: “We’re in the process of renewing everything within the tunnel, which includes replacing the track.
“That means we’ll need to return to Blackheath to complete this work over the next few years so that we can keep this Victorian-era structure in the best possible condition.
“We will now assess the further repair work needed for next year and will keep passengers and stakeholders informed on next steps.”
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