50 metres below the streets of the capital city, work has been – quite literally – in the pipeline to transform an underground sewage tunnel into London’s super sewer. Eight years (and a whole lot of money) later, and the construction of the super sewer is complete. Hooray! Why are we so excited about the construction of a sewer, I hear you ask? Well, sit back and allow me to explain.
The Thames Tideway Tunnel (or the super sewer, between friends) is a 25km-long and 7.2m wide tunnel, designed to significantly reduce the sewage pollution in the Thames. London currently relies on a very old sewage system which was initially built for a population of less than half its current size – and so (much like me if I’m expected get any work done when the sun’s out) it can’t quite accomplish what’s expected of it. Because of this, in an average year, tens of millions of tonnes of sewage spills into the river (delightful, right?). Once fully up and running, the super sewer aims to reduce those spills almost completely. So yes, it’s a pretty exciting sewer.
Well, I can confirm that we’re now in touching distance of the super sewer becoming fully operational, following the final puzzle piece being put into place last week. The final construction milestone was a 1,200-tonne lid being lifted and placed on top of the shaft at Abbey Mills Pumping Station in Stratford using a purpose built crane.
Tideway can now begin the ‘commissioning’ phase over summer, which will involve diverting live storm sewage into the new infrastructure, protecting the Thames for the first time. The sewer should be in full operation in 2025, creating a much cleaner and healthier river environment.
CEO Andy Mitchell, said: “This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The underground civil engineering on the Tideway project is now complete following eight years of dedicated hard work from all our teams working in the capital.
“There is still work to do – we need to finish some above-ground structures and, crucially, test the system – but this nonetheless marks an absolutely critical milestone for the Tideway project and for London.”
Find out more about the Thames Tideway Tunnel here.