Thames Tideway Tunnel Site – Deptford Church Street
Index Thames Tideway Tunnel Sites Deptford Church Street
Deptford Church Street is a site that is being used to help construct the Greenwich Interconnection Tunnel between Greenwich Pumping House and Chambers Wharf. Specifically, it’s purpose is defined on the Thames Tideway Tunnel web site as follows.
It will be used to intercept the Deptford Storm Relief Sewer combined sewer overflow, divert flows into the Greenwich connection tunnel and to the main tunnel.
This Google Earth image shows the area.
Deptford Church Street
The work site at Deptford Church Street are to the north side of the Greenwich Rail Line in part of the green space and this is a visualisation of the area from the Thames Tideway web site.
Deptford Church Street
The corner at the bottom left of the green space is tucked between the Greenwich Rail Line and Church Street, which runs across the front of the image.
I also took a few pictures of the area.
I think it is true to say that we’re good at landscape gardening in this country and I can envisage a garden design being produced here, that could enhance the whole area. As the image shows, there will be a few smallish structures in the garden.
Thames Tideway Tunnel Site – Greenwich Pumping Station
Index Thames Tideway Tunnel Sites Greenwich Pumping Station
Greenwich Pumping Station is an existing Grade II Listed works and is being used to drive the Greenwich Interconnection Tunnel to Chambers Wharf. The Pumping Station lies alongside Deptford Creek, underneath the DLR and the Greenwich Rail Line. This Google Earth image shows the area.
Greenwich Pumping Station
The DLR is the rail line that bends along the Creek and the Pumping Station is to the right. These are some pictures I took of the Pumping Station.
Some were taken from the DLR and they give a good view of the site.
This is another picture that was clipped from the Thames Tideway Tunnel website, which shows how it will look when complete.
Greenwich Pumping Station
The DLR is shown in the foreground and the picture is looking south.
Thames Water say this about the Greenwich Pumping station on the Thames Tideway web site.
Work includes construction of underground structures to connect the CSO to a shaft approximately 46 metres deep with an internal diameter of approximately 17 metres. This shaft will be built within the existing Greenwich Pumping Station compound to the north of the existing pumping station building. The existing Grade II listed East Beam Engine House will be refurbished to house ventilation equipment and electrical and control panels.
Hopefully, this is one of the few sites on the Thames Tideway Tunnel, where some quality visual architecture can be employed. The area between the the Pumping Station, the railways and Deptford Creek could be turned into a leisure area bookended by the Grade II Listed Pumping Station and the Deptford Creek Lift Bridge.
This architectural drawing was clipped from the Thames Tideway Tunnel website.
GreenwichPumping Station Plan
To my untrained eye, it looks like the only new construction between the Pumping Station and the railway lines is the shaft that reaches down to the Greenwich Interconnection Tunnel. Will this be flat in the concrete or an odd shape that can’t be used for anything else? But even so there is a lot of space there to create something worthwhile for residents and visitors.
I also can’t believe that the locals will be too inconvenienced during construction. The builders may have problems because of the DLR viaduct, but in London cramped sites are something to which you get used. The builders have also got good water access for difficult supplies and taking out the tunnel spoil.
I also feel, that there might be some excellent views of the construction from the DLR, as most of the heavy work will take place, like the insertion of the tunnel boring machine, in full view of Lewisham-bound trains.
Thames Tideway Tunnel Site – Earl Pumping Station
Index Thames Tideway Tunnel Sites Earl Pumping Station
Earl Pumping Statiuon is going to be upgraded for the Thames Tideway Tunnel. it is currently in use and is tucked away in residential streets to the south of Surrey Docks. This Google Earth image shows the area.
Earl Pumping Station
The Pumping Station is on Yeoman Street and is the rectangular building pointing to the north-east. There are labels and they may help. These are pictures I took of the outside of the pumping station.
It is a building of simple practicality rather than architectural merit. Hopefully the new building works will improve it.
Earl Pumping Station
This image was one I clipped from the Tideway Tunnel site.
This is one of those sites, which if they used some good project planning and got a keen architect to skin and landscape everything properly, they could create a building that fitted in to the area well.
Thames Tideway Tunnel Site – Bekesbourne Street
Index Thames Tideway Tunnel Sites Bekesbourne Street
Bekesbourne Street is not a particularly big site. The official site says this about the works in the area in the planning agreement.
In an average year the Holloway Storm Relief combined sewer overflow
(CSO) discharges 7,900m3 of untreated sewage into the tidal Thames at
London Wharf, Limehouse. On the basis that litter tonnages are
proportional to discharge volumes, approximately two tonnes of sewage
derived litter is also discharged from this CSO in an average year.A worksite is required to control the Holloway Storm Relief CSO and divert
flows into the northern Low Level Sewer No.1. These works would avoid
the need to connect the CSO to the main tunnel. The proposed
development site is known as Bekesbourne Street, which is located in the
London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
So this site will be used to stop untreated sewage going into the Thames.
If you look on the Index Page, you’ll see that this site is marked as 22 on the map and the sewer will seem go from here to Abbey Mills via the Limehouse Cut Tunnel.
They also have a map, which shows two work sites, outlined in red and the line of the Holloway Storm Relief Sewer shown in green
Bekesbourne Street
This is a Google Earth image of the local area to a large scale.
The Holloway Sorm Relief Sewer follows the line of Bekesbourne Street, which is the north-south route down the map from Limeshouse station at the top.
The second Google Earth image shows the wider area from the station to the Thames.
Limehouse Station To The Thames
Notice that the Rotherhithe Tunnel goes through the area. These are pictures I took locally.
It strikes me, that quite a bit of time and effort could have been saved, if when they built the Limehouse Link Tunnel in the late 1980s, they had sorted out the Holloway Storm Relief Sewer at the same time. I could see no trace of the sewer, so it must go deep under the road straight under all the new housing into the Thames.
The new scheme, where all the water and sewage goes to Abbey Mills and Beckton must be much better.
A Walk Along The Thames From Erith Station To Crossness
This afternoon I enjoyed the sun and walked along the Thames Path from near Erith Station to the Victorian Pumping Station at Crossness.
When looking at these pictures, you can see some of the places that I also saw on the cruise down the Thames.
I haven’t fully annotated the pictures yet, as finding out what some of the buildings are isn’t easy.
There’s some good technology at work in Crossness and they should tell people about it.
My Thames Water Bill
I had my Thames Water statement this morning. People complain about the cost of water and sewage, but I paid just £82.54 for 179 days.
That works out at 0.46 pence a day. And I thought the halfpenny wasn’t legal tender any more.
I actually used twenty one tonnes of water over that period or about 117 litres a day.
According to the Times today, the average Thames Water bill is £354 a year. I pay less than half that, which is to be expected, as my house is single occupied.
Thames Water Gets It Wrong Again
Thames Water has just announced that it is applying to put up water bills. It is reported here on the BBC. Here’s the first couple of paragraphs.
Thames Water has asked its regulator, Ofwat, for permission to raise prices.
It wants to put up bills by about £29 per household during 2014-15, but has asked Ofwat if it can spread the rise over more than one year.
I have been privileged to go on a Thames Water tour of the sewers a couple of years ago, so I know some of the problems they face in dealing with London’s sewage and delivering the city’s water.
But I can’t help comparing the way they handle their customers, with the way Crossrail deals with those who might use their new railway.
From the burst water mains in Herne Hill, Notting Hill and Regent Street recently to the timing of announcements of price rises, they either seem to be unlucky or have no sense of how to use positive information to get customers on their side in a small way. For instance, where is the parallel archaeology project to the Super Sewer, like Crossrail’s one with their new rail line?
We’ve also seen no report on what caused the fatberg in Kingston recently? This would appear to be something that was beyond their control. So why not be honest?
I have seen no reports too, about some of the superb water and sewage engineering, put in by Thames Water at the Olympic site. And where’s the sewer cam on the Internet, that can show the conditions that they have to deal with?
Thames Water seem to be going out of their way to attract bad publicity.
The Anonymous Widower 