THAMES TUNNEL MAJOR PROJECT LONDON TIDEWAY REPORT IMPROVEMENTS The Thames Tunnel is a new relief Tunnel ThaT is parT of Thames waTer’s scheme To reduce 10|2010 sewaGe discharGes London Tideway Improvements | Major Project 10 | 2010 Foreword 04 all provide additional capacity and improve water quality in the river. Becoming a reality Clearly this is a huge investment for London Tideway Improvements London and like other schemes, are making progress such as the Olympics and Crossrail, it does not just affect central 06 London, it affects a whole range of sites across the city. Thames Tunnel By looking at alternative options Taking wastewater under we have significantly reduced the central London number of construction sites. This will reduce the impact of the 16 tunnel’s construction on customers Tunnelling challenge and businesses. We still have some This may not be the For the last 150 years way to go in terms of refining our most fragrant Multiple tunnelling methods are London has benefited proposals for the main Thames infrastructure project needed for the Thames Tunnel from the fantastic work Tunnel, and that is the benefit of ❝ but it’s extremely ❝ carried out by the consulting with people across important - creating around 18 Victorians in the 1860s. The sewer London - we want to collect their 4,000 jobs and apprentices in network created by Sir Joseph Lee Lessons thoughts on how we can minimise the next few years and the Bazalgette and his team is still in the impact. long-term prospect of a cleaner Experience from the Lee Tunnel is excellent condition, but it badly Learning points from around the Thames and better quality of life. helping work on the Thames Tunnel needs greater capacity. When it world, in locations such as Sydney London led the world when was built London had 2.5 million and Singapore where similar Marc Isambard Brunel and his 20 residents. Today the population schemes have been constructed, is son, Isambard Kingdom Brunel Lee Tunnel has trebled - and it is still growing. that if you want to invest in the built the first Thames tunnel and In addition the system is facing future then you need to invest in Joseph Bazalgette conceived London’s deepest tunnel is new pressures. Areas that have the environment. the sewers, so helping to crack now under construction been paved over are increasing the The challenge for us now is to the problems of cramped amount and speed of run-off ensure that we have the most metropolitan living that 26 water into the system, and climate effective solution, not just in terms threatened the prosperity of History change is altering rainfall patterns. of standards and engineering but Victorian London. These The environmental standards in engineering marvels set the Bazalgette’s groundbreaking the most cost-effective solution the 1850s were quite that delivers value for money. standard for city living that we Victorian legacy straightforward with engineers Over the past 10 to 20 years the take for granted today. More simply asked to clean up the need to invest in the future has than 150 years after the ‘Great 30 Thames and get rid of the smell. been suppressed, but this can only Stink’ of London, the planned Any overflows went into a river be done for so long. It cannot be Thames ‘super sewer’ will Other upgrades which had been biologically dead Wastewater capacity increases are continually put back. ensure we can manage new for many years. These standards London is a world-leading city, challenges and the demands of under way across the capital were nowhere near as high as and its success leads to continued a growing capital. those we expect today. growth. We now need to invest in 38 The time has come to decide the future in the same way that the Boris Johnson, London mayor Procurement what we are going to do for the Victorians had the foresight to do next 150 years. 150 years ago. Getting the best from the Our planned London Tideway best construction firms Improvements programme is Martin Baggs, about building on the past and chief executive officer, 42 creating a legacy for the future. The Thames Water Skills & jobs upgrades to London’s five main sewage treatment works along the The Tideway Tunnels will be River Thames, the Lee Tunnel and London’s biggest employer the proposed Thames Tunnel will NCE in partnership with Thames Water 3 London Tideway Improvements | Major Project 10 | 2010 Becoming a reality Planning and consultation Bernadette Redfern As the consultation phase begins for the Thames Tunnel other schemes in the London Tideway Improvements are already making good progress. The London Tideway Improvements projects together represent the largest capital investment the UK water sector has ever seen. When completed in 2020, the two tunnels and five extended sewage Flows from combined sewer treatment works that make up the London Tideway Improvements project overflows such will ensure that the UK is compliant as this one at Putney with the requirements of the European Crossness, Mogden, Long Reach and will transfer overflows to Beckton Bridge would be captured Urban Waste Water Treatment Riverside. This work will ensure that Sewage Treatment Works. by the Thames Tunnel Directive, by substantially reducing they can deal with the increasing Construction consortium MVB, untreated sewage discharges from 36 flows,” explains Thames Water chief which consists of Morgan Sindall, Vinci combined sewer overflows (CSOs). The executive Martin Baggs. Construction Grand Projets and Bachy improvements in river water quality A range of construction projects is Soletanche began shaft construction linked to the sewage works upgrades underway to increase the cumulative on 30 September. “It is a great scheme should also provide an environmental capacity of these five sewage with a cost of £635M. It is a great boost to life in and on the Thames. treatment works by just under 50% scheme but it is small compared to the All elements of the programme will from 3,395M litres/day to 5,045M even more complex Thames Tunnel, help reduce unsightly sewage related litres/day . At the same time, the required to ensure compliance with the litter. “In a typical year 39M.m3 of treatment facilities will also be EU directives,” says Baggs. sewage overflows into the river and in upgraded at Long Reach and Riverside. The start of construction for the a wet year it can be three times that,” These improvements will be completed proposed Thames Tunnel is still some says Phil Stride, head of London between 2012 and 2014. way off. Two years in fact. It depends Tideway Tunnels at Thames Water. “At The second element of the on the scheme obtaining planning some CSOs it takes only 2mm of programme is the Lee Tunnel which is permission. The first round of public 150 rainfall to generate a discharge and about reducing flows discharging into consultation began in September and People in the project team clearly this is not acceptable,” he says. the River Thames as soon as possible. will end after a 14 week period. After The London Tideway Improvements The project involves the construction of considering the feedback, the project programme has three elements, all at a storage tunnel to intercept the largest team will then review the design and different stages of development. “The single CSO accounting for an average present a final proposal for a second sewage works upgrades are already of 16M.m3 in discharges every year. consultation round commencing in underway. This is the extension and This CSO is located at Abbey Mills spring/summer 2011. A planning modification of Thames Water’s pumping station in Stratford and will submission is scheduled to be made in 9% sewage treatment works discharging be mitigated by the 6.9km, 7.2m 2012. Design complete to the tidal River Thames – at Beckton, internal diameter Lee Tunnel, which Plans for the Thames Tunnel itself 4 NCE in partnership with Thames Water London Tideway Improvements | Major Project 10 | 2010 and regulations are still being mapped out but we are running it as a twin track approach. We need to explore the options with regulators, stakehold- ers and investors,” says Baggs. Section 36 of the Act outlines powers for ministers and the regulator to designate a separate infrastructure provider to build major infrastructure projects. “Thames Water is working with Defra and Ofwat on development of the regulation and this will be complete at the end of April 2011,” says Stride. Regardless of the final delivery mechanism, the tunnel must first go through the planning process. The system for major projects is going through a period of change with the Infrastructure Planning Commission moving into the Planning Inspectorate. Rather than making final decisions the IPC, which is to become the Major Infrastructure Planning Unit, will make recommendations that will be used by the Secretary of State to make a final decision. However, head of the Infrastructure Planning Commission, Sir Michael Pitt tells NCE that projects going through his unit will not be Putney Bridge foreshore: New areas of hard standing would be created following delayed by the move and says that all construction work on the foreshore applications, once accepted, will have a final recommendation report made within 12 months. In early September Environment have been significantly revised since “When we did the original pricing, the association with Halcrow and Secretary Caroline Spelman gave the scheme was originally presented to project was only at the initial concept supported by consultants from a range renewed government support to the Defra in December 2006. Following stage. We only had a handful of people of framework partners.