West Anglia Route Improvement – Angel Road Stations – 20th March 2017
I took these pictures.as I walked from the current Angel Road station to the works, which could be the construction of the new Meridian Water station.
There is obviously a lot of serious work going on in the area, as some of the trains seem to be slowing appreciably.
But most of the work so far, seems to have been setting up the site, moving the signalling cables and generally clearing up the rubbish.
From Salford Central To Deansgate
I took these pictures as I walked from Salford Central station to the Deansgate-Castlefield tram-stop.
Despite the fact, that it was not raining and is very sunny, it is Manchester! Although probably, some parts are Salford!
It is certainly, an impressive bridge over the Irwell and a reconstructed viaduct to Deansgate.
Swedish Aggregate For Crossrail
I found this story in Specification Online, which is entitled A heavyweight solution for Crossrail, mildly funny as , we’re importing aggregate from Sweden for Crossrail. It seems a long way to bring a simle oroduct like aggregate.
Read the story and you’ll find out why!
I suppose Mr. Farage has already made a poster with a slogan of British Aggregate for British Railways.
Where The Northern Line Extension Spoil Is Going
This article in Your Thurrock, is entitled London Tube tunnelling project set to benefit arable land in East Tilbury.
It gives a good overview of the tunnelling for the Northern Line Extension and states that the tunnel spoil will be taken by barge to Goshems Farm in East Tilbury.
This Google Map shows the North Bank of the Thames from Tilbury Fort to East Tilbury.
Tilbury Fort is in the South West corner of the map, by the river and East Tilbury is in the North East corner.
This is a more detailed map of the area of Goshems Farm.
Goshems Farm is in the area of Felmac Metals and Micks Tyres, which from their names are typical businesses, you find in areas like these all over the UK.
Note Station Road leading up to the disused Low Street station, which was on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway, which is now served by c2c.
I suspect that the spoil will go into the light-coloured land between this area and the Thames, which could be something like an old landfill site.
It’ll certainly be a lot more use as arable land.
The Victoria Embankment Work-Site Of The Thames Tideway Tunnel
As I walked along the Thames, signs of works for the Thames Tideway Tunnel are appearing.
These pictures were taken at the Victoria Embankment Work-Site.
There is not much to see at present, but most of it is so the Tattersall Castle can be moved.
When the tunnel is finished, the site will look like this.
The main purpose of the site, is to connect the Regent Street combined sewer overflow to the main tunnel.
Anybody fancy a coffee, a drink or a meal in the sun by the Thames on top of the sewer outfall in 2021?
A Walk Between Kennington And Oval Tube Stations
I walked this morning between Kennington and Oval tube stations.
Note.
- The aim was to see if I could find any sign of the construction of the Northern Line Extension.
- I walked along Kennington Park Road and then cut into Kennington Park.
The work site at Kenngton Park, was not difficult to spot on the Kennington Park Place side of Kennington Park.
- Many of the sites for Crossrail are very cramped, but at least this one seems to surrounded by grass, that can be very easily restored.
- All the noise-generating equipment is encased in a large acoustic enclosure, as twenty-four hour working is envisaged.
The park also contains the Prince Consort Lodge, which looks to be an interesting Victorian architectural experiment.
This Google Map shows the two stations and Kennington Park.
Kennington And Oval Tube Stations And Kennington Park
This Google Map is an enlarged one showing both the work sites at Kennington Park and Kennington Green.
Kennington Green And Kennington Park Work Sites
This map from carto.metro.free.fr, shows the Northern Line through the area.
Lines Through Kennington And Oval Tube Stations
Note.
- The Northern Line was probably dug under Kennington Park Road, which is labelled as the A3.
- Kennington Park is on the Eastern side of Kennington Park Road.
- It looks like the Kennington Loop crosses Kennington Park Road very close to Kennington Park Place.
- Extrapolating being the two maps and reality, should give you the position of the shaft, with respect yo Kennington station.
- There’s more on what is happening here on this web page on the TfL web site.
Reading the documents on the TfL web site, it is now clear how the tunnels will be dug.
- Tunneling will start from Battersea and the tunnel boring machines will be lifted out at the two work sites; Kennington Green and Kennington Park.
- The running tunnel between the Kennington Green shaft will be 211 m. long and should be complete in December 2016.
- The running tunnel between the Kennington Park shaft will be 75 m. long and should be complete in October 2016.
- Both these short tunnels will be dug by traditional methods and lined with sprayed concrete.
At least Google doesn’t seem to be able to find any recent complaints.
Pictures Of The Kennington Green Site
A couple of days later, I went to the Kennington Green site and took these pictures.
It’s just an anonymous and very professional large green acoustic screen.
Building The Third Runway At Heathrow
This is not concerned about the politics and protests of building the third runway at Heathrow, but about how it could be built and the options for transport to the Airport.
The Current Heathrow Airport
This is a Google Map of Heathrow Airport and the surrounding area.
Heathrow Airport
The Proposed Heathrow Airport
This map from the Heathrow web site, shows the position of the new runway and the expanded airport.
Heathrow Airport With Three Runways
Note.
- How the M25 is dropped into a tunnel.
- The village of Harmondsworth is no more.
- This page on the Heathrow we site gives a lot more details.
Construction
It looks to me, that the actual transformation of the Airport will be possible, as it looks like construction would just replace the housing with the new runway and associated works.
Diversion Of The M25
Cut and cover tunnels would carry the M25 under the new runway, but from the map, it looks like the motorway will only be in tunnel under the new part of the airport and for not that great a distance.
I think with careful planning, the M25 could be left functioning, whilst the tunnel and new runway are constructed, so it should be nothing like the problems of constructing Terminal 5.
Conclusion
The new runway and terminal shouldn’t be the world’s most difficult construction project.
Did The Project Management Go Wrong On The Holloway Road Bridge?
It was originally planned that the bridge decking where Holloway Road crosses the Gospel Oak to Barking Line (GOBlin) at Upper Holloway station would be replaced over Christmas this year.
But plans were obviously changed.
This article in the Islington Gazette is entitled Holloway Road closures: Islington Council threatens to sue TfL over ‘last-minute’ plans.
This is said.
TfL says work to transfer underground pipes and cables from the old bridge to another specially-made bridge has proved problematic because of their “complex layout, poor condition and a leaking water main”.
But Cllr Webbe was having none of it. She said: “This section of Holloway Road will be closed in at least one direction for nearly three months, including over half term, Christmas and New Year.
It looks like the water main is the problem and perhaps this didn’t show up until they started to move everything.
But whatever the problem was, it looks to me like there has been a cock-up by someone.
Was it the surveyor, who looked at the moving of the cables and the water main and didn’t quantify the task properly?
Surely though, the big problem now is that if this bridge problem delays the rebuilding of the trac for the GOBlink, which is needed for the electrification.
It’s a mess!
I took these pictures of the area today.
I walked down from Archway station and then caught a free bus to Holloway Road. At least TfL had got the buses right.
But except for Junction Road from Archway to Kentish Town, which was blocked solid, the traffic levels were very low.
Marshgate Lane Goes Under Northern Outfall Sewer
Marshgate Lane is one of the main routes to get heavy equipment into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The pictures don’t tell the full story.
Before the construction of the Olympics started, it was a lane under the Northern Outfall Sewer, the massive set of four Victorian pipes which take away an awful lot of North London’s waste water to the pumping station at Abbey Mills before it is pumped to the Beckton works for treatment.
For the Olympics, the lane was not going to be used, but afterwards, it needed to be upgraded to a full height underpass, so that HGVs could get into the site.
So before the Olympics, a contract was negotiated to dig the underpass, through as the name Marshgate Lane suggests, not the best of soils.
I heard rumours from Thames Water engineers, that British contractors were rather pleased that the difficult contract was awarded to a German construction company.
The rumours also said that the Germans lost considerable sums of money on what was one of the more expensive projects for the Olympics.
At least they didn’t make the mistake of damaging the sewer and dumping the proceeds from over a million or so toilets all over the Olympic site.
They’d have really been in the sh*t then!
Is Ilkeston Station A Typical Infrastructure Project In The UK?
The construction of the much-delayed Ilkeston station, seems to finally be proceeding, as this article on the BBC, which is entitled Ilkeston bridge work on newt delay railway station, discuses. This the opening paragraphs.
Work has started on a footbridge at the site of a £10m railway station where construction efforts stalled due to concerns over rare great crested newts.
Ilkeston in Derbyshire is one of the largest towns in the UK without a rail station after its previous one closed in 1967, due to Dr Beeching’s cuts.
However, the project suffered several delays, notably because of newts that had to be trapped and relocated.
The station, off Millership Way, is due to open later this year.
I do hope that, one of our Universities is doing a serious study about the effects of the new railway station and the restored train services have on the town of Ilkeston and the surrounding area.
I will be very surprised, if there isn’t some positive effects.
I also hope they’ll come up with recommendations to avert the delays to important small infrastructure projects like this.
The Anonymous Widower 