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£5bn Thames Tideway Tunnel turned on

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The £5 billion Thames Tideway Tunnel in London has been turned on, following an eight-year construction process.   

Thames Tideway Tunnel
Tideway chief executive, Andy Mitchell. Credit: Tideway.

Valves are now open at four of the 21 locations along the 25-km super-sewer designed to protect the River Thames from sewage pollution, with the rest due to come online in the coming months. 

Initial data suggests half-a-million cubic metres of sewage was captured by the tunnel network in one 24-hour period following heavy rainfall on 23 September. 

Tideway CEO, Andy Mitchell, said: “After eight years of construction, in which almost 25,000 people have contributed more than 40 million working hours, this system is operating for the first time. 

“These are early days, with more connections to make and further testing to come, but the super sewer’s positive influence on the health of the Thames will increase over the coming months – and London will soon be home to the cleaner, healthier river it deserves.” 

Started in 2016, construction had been aimed for completion by this year but was rescheduled owing to delays brought about by the pandemic.    

Since then, works have taken place at two dozen construction sites from Acton in west London to Abbey Mills Pumping Station in Stratford, east London.  

Tideway alliance of contractors 

The west region is being delivered by a joint venture of BAM Nuttall, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure and Balfour Beatty.  

The central region is being delivered by a joint venture of Ferrovial Agroman UK and Laing O’Rourke.  

And the east region is being delivered by a joint venture of Costain, Vinci Construction Grands Projets and Bachy Soletanche.   

Amey is overseeing system integration which includes process control, communication equipment and software systems for operation, maintenance and reporting.  

The tunnel, now in its testing phase, is due to be fully operational under Thames Water in the second half of 2025, at which point it could capture up to 95 per cent of overflows from London’s sewerage network, improving the water quality of the Thames and the environment.   

Environment Agency chairman, Alan Lovell, said: “We are proud to have worked collaboratively with partners on the Tideway project reducing storm sewage spills into the tidal Thames by around 95 per cent.  

“Our contribution ensures that the best possible environmental outcomes are achieved; we are confident that the project will markedly improve the river for wildlife and for people. 

“We are regulating the system with environmental permits and will continue to monitor water quality and aquatic life in our capital’s river.” 

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