A 1,200-tonne concrete ‘lid’ has been lifted onto the top of a deep shaft in Stratford, east London – marking the completion of the Tideway ‘super sewer’ construction.
The 24m-wide circular concrete ‘lid’ was lifted into position at Abbey Mills Pumping Station using a purpose-built gantry crane and other manoeuvring equipment.
The operation took around five hours and was the heaviest lift on the whole super sewer project.
The shaft at Abbey Mills is the deepest on the project at 70m, the point at which the super sewer connects to the Lee Tunnel, which was completed in 2016.
The super sewer, known formally as the Thames Tideway Tunnel, is a 25km-long sewage tunnel designed to reduce sewage pollution in the central London River Thames. As well as building the 7.2m-wide main tunnel, Tideway has also constructed a 4.5km connection tunnel in south-east London and a 1.1km tunnel in south-west London.
Tideway will now begin the process of ‘commissioning’ the system – ensuring the new infrastructure functions as designed – with the aim of bringing it into full operation in 2025.
