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-gated at launchThe 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/)