TBM Rachel - Thames Tideway Tunnel (East)
East London, UK (Bermondsey to Abbey Mills) · 2016-2022 (Tunnelling started 2016, overall project completion 2025) · £4.2bn (Project total)
The judgement call
Account-gated at launchNamed after Rachel Parsons, a pioneering engineer. Part of the 'super sewer' project to clean up the River Thames.
Key engineering challenges
Tunnelling through varied ground conditions beneath a major city. - Minimising disruption in a densely populated urban environment. - Managing large volumes of excavated material.
Project facts
- Client / owner
- Tideway
- Lead contractor
- Costain, Vinci Construction Grands Projets and Bachy Soletanche Joint Venture (CVB JV)
- Lead designers
- —
- Project type
- new build
- Scale
- Tunnel length: 5.5km (East section); TBM diameter: 8.85m
- Disciplines
- civil; structural; mechanical; electrical; systems; tunnelling; geotechnical; environmental
- Standards & frameworks
- NEC4 (New Engineering Contract), CDM Regulations, UK water industry standards.
Sources: Tideway.london (https://www.tideway.london/news/press-releases/2019/november/new-map-shows-progress-of-giant-machines-creating-super-sewer-beneath-the-thames/) - Herrenknecht AG (https://www.herrenknecht.com/en/references/referencesdetail/thames-tideway-tunnel/) - Jacobs (https://www.jacobs.com/projects/thames-tideway-tunnel)