National Grid’s London Power Tunnels Breakthrough Completes £1 Billion Project’s Tunnelling Activity
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.
These bullet points sum up the press release.
- Landmark moment for London Power Tunnels project as 140-tonne boring machine emerges at Eltham site following final subterranean journey
- Breakthrough marks the completion of 32.5km of tunnelling at depths of up to 60m under seven South London boroughs
- Due for completion in 2026, the project is rewiring the capital’s electricity network to boost resilience and future-proof supplies as demand grows
This is the seventh major tunnel in London in recent years to be completed.
- Elstree and St. John’s Wood Cable Tunnel – Electricity – 12 miles – 2005
- Lower Lea Valley Cable Tunnels – Electricity – 3.7 miles – 2008
- Lee Tunnel – Sewage – 4.3 miles – 2016
- New Cross and Finsbury Market Cable Tunnel – Electricity – 3.5 miles – 2017
- Northern Line Extension To Battersea – Rail – 2 miles – 2021
- Elizabeth Line – Rail – 26 miles – 2022
- Silvertown Tunnel – Road – 1 mile – Under Construction
- Thames Tideway Tunnel – Sewage – 16 miles – Under Construction
- Euston Tunnel – Rail – 4.5 miles – Under Construction
Note.
- It is likely that there will be CrossRail 2 and an extension to the Bakerloo Line.
- It certainly seems to have been a prudent decision to create Tunneling and Underground Construction Academy or TUCA to train more tunnellers, before the Elizabeth Line was built.
But I don’t believe that will be all the large tunnels that will be built in the capital.
The Anonymous Widower 
I peeked at the link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euston_tunnel: –
and read
“One of the few above-surface elements of the tunnel will be a three-storey building near Euston railway station, adjacent to the existing West Coast Main Line, which will accommodate a 12 m (39 ft) diameter ventilation shaft from the surface to the twin tunnels below; this structure will also facilitate emergency access to the tunnel along with supporting electrical plant rooms. The top of this building will be covered by a green roof, stone-paved courtyard and have an entrance from Park Village East.”
Quite a contrast to what was proposed here in West Didsbury (Manchester) where I live. Here HS2 propose to extract four TBM’s on a ~10km tunnel (only two used in the much longer Chiltern tunnel) via a 50m diameter [vent] shaft (17 times the area) in the green belt and a flood basin with ugly surface buildings in huge 4-hectare compound, remove 1/4M tonnes of spoil by road and trash a school! Unsurprisingly local residents made furious petitions against this vastly overengineered and ergo too expensive scheme.
Little wonder the government pulled the plug.
Comment by R. Mark Clayton | October 10, 2023 |
This image shows one of London’s ventilation shafts for the Elizabeth Line, that doubles as an office block.
Comment by AnonW | October 10, 2023 |
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