NEWS |


Penultimate breakthrough on London Power Tunnels


BTSYM Conf - Speakers UK – A call for speakers has been issued for the BTSYM Conference 2023 on 29 September, in London. BTSYM is seeking presentations from


tunnelling and underground space professionals up to 35 years of age. Application deadline and info:


4 August http://bit.ly/BTSYM2023


Webuild/Ghella win in Sicily ITALY – A Webuild and Ghella consortium has been awarded a tunnelling contract for Sicily’s Palermo-Catania high-capacity railway. Lot4A covers the design and build of the


Above: One of final breakthroughs on London Power Tunnels-2 project PHOTO CREDIT: NATIONAL GRID


UK – The Hochtief-Murphy JV has achieved the fourth – and penultimate – breakthrough on Phase 2 of National Grid’s London Power Tunnels (LPT-2) project. TBM ‘Edith’ completed the


6.3k-long journey from the New Cross substation to reach Kings Avenue, in Lambeth in south London, which marks completion of four of the five drives for the National Grid project. Four TBMs have been used for the


works. TBM ‘Grace’ remains tunnelling,


boring an 11.1km-long tunnel eastwards from New Cross substation to Eltham. This final tunnel breakthrough is expected to be achieved in early autumn. The first, 6.7km-long, drive on


the LPT-2 projects was completed when 140-tonne Herrenknecht TBM ‘Christine’ broke through in June 2022.


In March, TBM ‘Christine’


completed a further, 2.5km-long, drive by arriving in a prepared flooded shaft. The route to the breakthrough shaft, in Crayford, passed through a chalk aquifer, which presented risk of high- pressure water flowing into the shaft. To prepare for the breakthrough, the shaft was deliberately flooded by the


6 | June 2023


Hochtief-Murphy team to equalise water pressure inside the shaft with the groundwater, creating the conditions to allow sealing gel to cure before draining down. LPT-2 project is a £1bn, seven-


year project to rewire the electricity power network across south London by running the high voltage cables through deep underground tunnels. In total, 32.5km of 3m-diameter tunnels are being built for LT-2 between Wimbledon in south-west London, and Crayford in the south- east of the capital. Phase 1 of the strategic power


cables project was undertaken over 2011 and 2018. The works include tunnelling farther north in the capital – north of the River Thames. Once the LPT-2 tunnels are


completed and fitted out, the new network of power cables is due to come into service in 2027. Most of the electricity supply


in south London is currently transmitted through underground cables – but generally at more shallow depths, traditionally located just below the road surface. The new LPT deep tunnels will


enable maintenance work to be carried out without disrupting traffic, residents and businesses and additional cables can be installed in the tunnels.


line between Caltanissetta Xirbi and Nuova Enna, and includes 20km of tunnels – 90% to be constructed by TBMs – and also 3km of viaducts. The contract is worth €1.2bn (US$1.3bn). Webuild will lead the consortium with a


75% stake; Ghella has 25%. The new Palermo-Catania-Messina axis


is a strategic project for Sicily and Italy, and it will be part of the Scandinavian- Mediterranean Corridor of the (TEN-T trans-European high-speed rail network.


NUAR first stage launch UK – The Geospatial Commission, part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), has launched a digital map – built by consultant Atkins – aimed improving the efficiency and reducing risk of damage during the installation, maintenance, operation and repair of underground pipelines and cables. This first phase of the National


Underground Asset Register (NUAR) contains data from the public and private sector organisations that own pipelines and cables in north-east England, Wales and London. Once fully operational across England,


Wales and Northern Ireland, NUAR is expected to help improve efficiencies in construction and development, reduce disruption to the public and businesses, improve worker safety, and support economic growth. Accidental strikes on underground pipes


and cables currently both cost the UK economy and risk worker safety. Atkins was appointed in 2021 – to work


with Ordnance Survey, 1Spatial, GeoPlace and the Greater London Authority – on a minimum viable product that would be then enhanced and rolled out more widely in England and also Northern Ireland.


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