The first major section of the Thames Tideway sewer incorporating the main tunnel drive has been completed. A gentle uphill 7km drive breaking by Giant tunnel boring machine has completed as it’s moved into the shaft at Tideway’s site in Acton.
Morgan Sindall, BAM Nuttall, and Balfour Beatty are three-way joint venture contractors. This drive includes the lowered TBM Rachel 35m into the ground to begin tunneling that started from Carnwath Road in Fulham, in May 2019.
Approximately 200 staff have worked for a total of nearly 1,100 shifts on the western section of the tunnel. This was done with Tideway’s use of the river to remove 725,000 tonnes of spoil and bring in concrete segments keeping around 25,000 lorries off the road.
TBM Rachel was named after Rachel Parsons, who was the founding president of the Women’s Engineering Society and a former Fulham resident.
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