By Ashley Karen
A pipe jacking operation has started at Tideway’s Albert Embankment site for London’s £4.1bn “super sewer” to link two cofferdams under Vauxhall Bridge.
The two structures, two of three enclosed areas constructed out into the River Thames, is going to be connected through a 33m long culvert.
The culvert, measuring 2.5m in diameter, is going to be shaped with 14 concrete pipes reinforced with stainless steel, pushed hydraulically into the ground from the launch chamber at the base of Cofferdam 3. Also, it is going to direct flows from the Clapham sewer outfall, placed upstream of Vauxhall Bridge, into the interception chamber, and finally to the key tunnel.
For the preparation of pipe jacking, the Tideway team has built a sheet pile and reinforced concrete twin-wall channel into the foreshore, to protect the ground and supply security from the Thames’ tides.
Once the pipe jacking is completed, Albert Embankment’s infrastructure, from Cofferdam 3 to Cofferdam 1, will be totally linked.
Supplies for the operation have been transported by barge; the shield is going to be cleared in the same way once the pipe jacking is done.
Earlier in July, Tideway has reached a milestone after the last concrete base slab on the project was poured and set in the deepest shaft, located at King Edward Memorial Park in Wapping. The Tideway team finished boring the full 64m depth in June pouring 780m3 of concrete into the deepest shaft at the East London site.
In its annual report which was released in the first days of July, Tideway declared that it has achieved several major milestones in 2020/21 despite the pandemic restrictions.
Tideway had to hold the operations during the beginning of the national lockdown in spring 2020. However, the project was 63% complete, with 21km of the tunnel being built, at the end of the financial year 2020/21.
