Tideway gets ready to dig in

Construction is ready to start on the mammoth Thames Tideway Tunnel project – the largest undertaken by the UK’s water industry. Lois Vallely considers its prospects.

After years of planning and preparatory work, construction of the long-awaited Thames Tideway Tunnel is due to begin in earnest this October. What makes Tideway so sure it will complete the project on budget and ahead of schedule when other mammoth infrastructure projects have failed to do so?

The tunnel is the biggest infrastructure project ever undertaken by the water industry. It is often dubbed the “super sewer”, and the company responsible for building it insists it is “urgently needed” to help tackle overflows of untreated sewage into the river through the centre of London.

Tideway’s chief operating officer Mark Sneesby tells Utility Week that it will take note of the lessons learnt during other major infrastructure projects in the capital – such as the Lee Tunnel, Crossrail and the Olympic Games – and he says he is “very confident” that the company can deliver the project on budget.

“This confidence is based on the rigour of the procurement process to appoint the main works contractors, as well as the systems integrator contract,” he says.

“Equally, we are also working hard to ensure the project comes in ahead of schedule,” he adds. “The existing target is late 2023 or early 2024, but we are aiming to take up to two years off this programme.”

Tideway announced at the end of last year that it would strive to complete the project up to two years earlier than originally planned. At the time, chief executive Andy Mitchell said this would demand a “radical change” to the timetable, with work on site to start six months early, tunnelling to start a year early and another year shaved off commissioning. “It is a radical change in the programme, but if you have that radical ambition like we do, there is only one time to call it – and that is now,” he added.

Critics of the Tunnel, such as the Thames Blue Green Economy (TBGE) group, say it is an “outdated and expensive folly” that “is not needed” to maintain the Tideway’s water quality. The coalition of water industry experts, engineers, academics, politicians and environmental representatives insist construction of the tunnel “must be stopped” and alternatives put in place, “before more damage is done and more time and money is wasted”.

Its argument is that “integrated water resource management” should be implemented instead to deal with the “rare occasions” when London’s drainage system cannot cope with storm water run-off.

However, Tideway maintains that the tunnel is “urgently needed” to prevent tens of millions of tonnes of raw sewage polluting the tidal River Thames every year. It does not reject integrated water resource management, but insists that green infrastructure should be built in to work alongside the measure.

As the start date for construction draws closer, Sneesby says the company is “making excellent progress”. The main works contractors have already set up at the three main drive sites – Bermondsey, Battersea and Fulham – and construction is to start officially in the autumn, “most likely October”.