NEWS |


London Tideway Tunnel now in operation


SCS JV in cement replacement trial UK - Skanska Costain Strabag JV (SCS JV) has secured funding to trial repurposed London Clay as a low carbon alternative to cement. Along with six other companies working


on the HS2 London Tunnels, the contractor has won the funding from Innovate UK to help accelerate the decarbonisation of the UK concrete industry. The SCS JV team is working with HS2,


Above: First TBM launch on London Tideway Tunnel was in 2018. Tunnelling was completed in 2022, secondary lining finished in 2023, and first sites are in operation PHOTO CREDIT: LONDON TIDEWAY


UK - London’s super sewer, the London Tideway Tunnel, was recently brought into operation at four sites, about a year after secondary lining was completed. The rest of the valves at the


other 17 sites in the system are due to come online over the next few months to enable the sewer to be fully operational in 2025. Thames Water will then operate the system as part of its London wastewater network. Tideway CEO Andy Mitchell said:


“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.” In May, the 25km-long sewer was


connected to the 6.9km-long Lee Tunnel – completing the full London Tideway Tunnel network, which has a combined capacity of 1.6 million m3


. Once fully operational, it should


virtually eliminate the harmful effects of sewage pollution in the Thames through central London. Work on the project began in


2016 – with activity taking place at 24 construction sites from Acton in west London to Abbey Mills Pumping Station in Stratford, east


6 | January 2025


London. More than 20 deep shafts were


constructed across London to divert sewage flows and to lower TBMs to bore the tunnel. The first machine was launched in 2018, and tunnelling on the main tunnel and two smaller connection tunnels achieved full completion in 2022. Secondary lining was completed in late 2023. The project is being delivered by


three consortia: a JV of BAM Nuttall, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure and Balfour Beatty on the west region; Ferrovial Agroman UK and Laing O’Rourke on the central region; and, the team of Costain, Vinci Construction Grands Projets and Bachy Soletanche is working on the east section. System integration is being


delivered by Amey, which is responsible for providing process control, communication equipment and software systems for operation, maintenance and reporting. Thames Water CEO Chris Weston


said: “The Thames Tideway Tunnel, a £4.5bn investment made by our customers, is nearing completion. We are already seeing the benefits of our £700m investment in Lee Tunnel in 2016, and the Channelsea River and River Lea now have ‘good to excellent’ water quality.”


technical lead Arup, concrete supplier Tarmac, the University of Leeds and Sika UK along with Expedition Engineering and the Mineral Product Association on the research project. London Clay from tunnelling activities is to be calcined (heating to activate) to be a replacement for Portland cement in concrete used for HS2 permanent works. The rationale to seek alternatives to


traditional and commonly used Portland cement is that its manufacture is energy- intensive, resulting in relatively high levels of CO2


emissions. Data from the original


trial (REAL Initiative), funded by HS2, showed that calcined London Clay could be a viable alternative for use in concrete production. Financial savings are also anticipated.


New co-cop on Stad Ship Tunnel NORWAY - The Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) is strengthening its project organisation by collaborating with Statens Vegvesen (the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, NPRA) for the construction of its Stad Ship Tunnel project. NCA director-general Einar Vik Arset


said: “The NCA is considered a one-time constructor when it comes to such a large project as the Stad Ship Tunnel, so it is not ideal to build a large internal project organisation; that is why we have initiated a collaboration.” Several new resources are being brought


in, including project and construction management, geology, tunnel operations, health and safety, and workplace regulations, to prepare the project organisation for the start of construction. The agreement primarily governs the


collaboration between the agencies during the tender phase and leading up to contract signing. It may be extended to cover the actual construction of the ship tunnel. The project is now in the final stages


of completing documentation and tender materials.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49