Constructing Crossrail
Plenty of preparatory work has been done on Crossrail since the project got the go-ahead three years ago, but tunnelling has yet to start. Dan Harvey looks at the progress that has been made
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t was almost three years ago when a historic funding package was signed that would – after decades of talk – allow the London Crossrail scheme to be built. The £15.9bn Heads of Terms agreement gave the scheme the
green light and prompted a flurry of design and enabling work contract awards. Major tunnelling contracts were provisionally scheduled to be announced this summer. The arrival of a new government in May
effectively restarted the approvals process. This colossal transport scheme, which is set to soak up more than £5bn from central government, needed to have buy-in from new heads of state who had vowed to slash
public spending. Two ministerial site visits and one statement from the chancellor of the exchequer that he plans no further cuts to capital spending later, the prospects for Crossrail are looking good – although questions about exactly what will be delivered remain. Further speculation has resulted from
delays in the procurement of the two major tunnelling contracts – now expected to be announced in early 2011. Although Crossrail Ltd insists this won’t have an impact on plans to start running trains in 2017, it does mean that for all the achievements to date, the scheme has yet to pass the point of no return. A Crossrail funding settlement will
form part of the autumn spending review. Although the scheme is supported across government, the fact that the Department for Transport has been tasked with finding spending cuts of up to 40 per cent means no one is taking anything for granted. But while those at the top of
government have yet to press the button that will finally allow tunnelling to begin, this is a fantastically exciting time for Crossrail and the legions of rail businesses and workers needed to make the scheme a reality. Crossrail Ltd has got itself into a position where it is ready to award the big contracts just as soon as all the political and financial aspects of the project are resolved. We’re on the cusp of something big. Contractors have been shortlisted for
an eye-watering range of packages, which resemble major transport schemes in their own right. Contracts expected to be worth more than £100m include, as well as the two principal west and east running tunnel jobs (C300 and C305), the early access shafts and sprayed concrete lining works at Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Whitechapel and Liverpool Street (C410 and C510), the Thames Tunnel (C310) and the Pudding Mill Lane portal (C350). For those that can make do with a
Canary Wharf Contractors starts casting the first concrete slab for the station on the dock bed of North Quay
PAGE 28 OCTOBER 2010
Work takes place in Hanover Square, near Oxford Circus, to build a new ticket office for Bond Street station
contract worth between £25m and £100m, Crossrail Ltd has also announced the firms in the running for the Paddington Integrated Project (C272), Bond Street advance works (C411), Liverpool Street advance works (C501) and the former North London line Connaught Tunnel refurbishment (C315). The winners of all these jobs should be known within 12 months.
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