Lee Tunnel
East London, UK (Abbey Mills Pumping Station to Beckton Sewage Treatment Works) · 2010-2016 (Construction started 2010, opened 2016) · £635M (Project total)
The judgement call
Account action unavailableThe first of two tunnels in Thames Water's London Tideway Improvement Programme. Designed to prevent sewage overflow into the River Lee.
Key engineering challenges
Constructing the largest-diameter and deepest tunnel ever built in London at the time. - Managing ground conditions at depths of up to 80m. - Integrating with existing sewer systems.
Project facts
- Client / owner
- Thames Water Utilities Limited
- Lead contractor
- MVB JV (Morgan Sindall, VINCI Construction Grands Projets, Bachy Soletanche Joint Venture)
- Lead designers
- —
- Project type
- new build
- Scale
- Tunnel length: 6.9 km; Tunnel diameter: 7.2 m (internal); Depth: up to 80 m
- Disciplines
- civil; structural; mechanical; electrical; systems; tunnelling; geotechnical; environmental
- Standards & frameworks
- NEC3 (implied), CDM Regulations, UK water industry standards.
Sources: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Tunnel) - ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322409318_Lee_tunnel_project_-_The_first_step_toward_a_cleaner_River_Thames) - New Civil Engineer (https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/lee-tunnel-ready-to-rumble-16-12-2011/) - Ingenia (https://www.ingenia.org.uk/articles/londons-deepest-tunnel-and-shafts/)