By lyndamyer
Linking the final major connection tunnel into the super sewer, a tunnel boring machine has completed its 4.5km drive among Greenwich and Bermondsey.
On 5 April 2022 the intended TBM, which’s name is Annie and has been named after Annie Scott Dill Russell, the first female scientist to work at the Greenwich Observatory, broke into the shaft at Tideway’s Chambers Wharf site.
Considering the achievement of this major landmark, currently the only tunneling work remaining on the super sewer project is the final section of TBM Selina’s drive toward Abbey Mills Pumping Station.
According to Robert Margariti-Smith, Tunnel Manager: “This is a fantastic moment for the Tideway team as TBM Annie arrives safely at her destination. The team at Greenwich, where the journey began, and at Chambers Wharf, where it’s now finished, have done a superb job in getting us to this point.”
He continued: “Although there is much work to be done, it’s great to have reached this milestone – bringing London ever closer to a cleaner Thames.”
The carrying process of the TBM from the shaft at Chambers Wharf as well as the secondary concrete lining of the tunnel with 4.5km length will be the current focus for the tunneling team.
Commencing its journey at the end of 2020, TBM Annie passed Tideway’s sites at Deptford Church Street and Earl Pumping Station along the drive.
Constructed by Herrenknecht in Germany, TBM Annie is still an impressive 6.4m wide – almost as wide as the Big Ben clock dials, while it is smaller than the TBMs used to create the main tunnel. Following its delivery, it has been dismantled, shipped, and reassembled in the 50m-deep shaft in Greenwich.
Much of the excavated spoil from the tunneling operation was removed from the site by barge; Tideway has invested in new marine infrastructure to use Deptford Creek as a transport artery in order to keep lorries off local roads.
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