NEWS |


Tideway marks completion of major underground construction


Melbourne Metro Tunnel


station completed AUSTRALIA – The first station was recently completed for Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel. Arden Station was under construction for


six years with 330,000 tonnes of rock and soil excavated. Completion was brought forward to be a test case for the other four underground stations where work is continuing – Parkville, State Library, Town Hall and Anzac. Next due for completion is Parkville. Over the coming months, the project


team will test station systems at Arden, including passenger information displays, platform screen doors and ventilation. The tunnels and stations contract is


being completed by Cross Yarra Partnership, a consortium of Lendlease Engineering, John Holland Bouygues Construction and Capella Capital. The Metro Tunnel is the first step towards


a metro-style rail network for Melbourne. It includes twin 9km-long tunnels from the west of the city to the south-east and a total of five underground stations. Four TBMs were employed to bore the twin running tunnels and those excavations were completed in mid-2021.


Above: Tideway’s deepest shaft capped off to mark finish to underground works PHOTO CREDIT: TIDEWAY


UK – Underground construction on London’s Tideway sewer was recently marked as completed with the milestone event of lifting and placing a 1,200-tonne concrete ‘lid’ to cap the major project’s deepest shaft. Lifting of the 24m-wide concrete


lid was undertaken by a gantry crane with two self-propelled modular transporters. The crane then carried the massive concrete structure into place. The operation at Abbey Mills Pumping Station, in east London, took five hours to complete. Tideway CEO Andy Mitchell said it


was a moment all those working on the project had 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,” he said. “There is still work to do – we


need to finish some above-ground structures and, crucially, test the system – but this nonetheless marks


8 | May 2024


an absolutely critical milestone for the Tideway project and for London.” The new super sewer comprises a


25km-long tunnel, two connection tunnels, 21 shafts, a host of valves and vortex generators. Six TBMs were used on the


project. Tunnelling was completed in April 2022 after four years of excavation. In a typical year, around 40


million tonnes of storm sewage spills into the River Thames. The new tunnel will intercept, store and ultimately transfer sewage waste away from the River Thames. The first sewage is expected to


flow into the tunnel this summer and it should be fully operational in 2025. It will be operated by Thames Water. With the cap now on the shaft at


Abbey Mills, Tideway is continuing its architecture and landscaping works at various sites along the route of the tunnel, including Blackfriars, Victoria and Chelsea. These sites – seven in total – will soon new areas for the public.


Engineering firms’ pact on tunnel innovation EUROPE – Three engineering companies – Royal HaskoningDHV, Witteveen+Bos and Ramboll – recently joined forces in a pact to offer state-of-the-art tunnel solutions. The consultancies are already Tier


One providers of design services and consultancy for tunnel projects but the strategic move is to provide “world class multidisciplinary consultancy and technical advisory for the whole asset life cycle for tunnels”. The full offering on all asset-life stages


is to cover phases such as early planning and feasibility through to the final design, asset management, and decommissioning planning and provisions. The trio aim to build upon the partnering


and collaboration on the world’s longest immersed tunnel, the Fehmarnbelt connecting Denmark with Germany. They anticipate that their services pact will open up more project possibilities worldwide. The co-operation agreement brings


together a combined workforce of more than 25,000 engineers. Ramboll said the three companies


would also look to lead best practice in sustainability and resilience in tunnel engineering and design.


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