• Super sewer project passes halfway mark
• More than 14km of the 25km tunnel under the River Thames now constructed
• Work has now safely re-started on all sites following lockdown pause and continues to build toward full capacity
• Company now assessing impacts of pandemic on costs and timetable

Tideway, the company building London’s super sewer, has published its fifth annual report and accounts, detailing significant progress made to year end.

The super sewer, once complete, will intercept millions of tonnes of sewage that currently spill into the River Thames every year.

And the latest annual report details the key milestones hit throughout the year, including passing the halfway mark; two tunnelling machines completing their journeys; and 16 of the project’s 21 shafts now fully excavated.

This year also marked the peak year for Tideway’s use of the river as a transport route – 3.3m tonnes of material from the project have now been moved by river, which has avoided more than 400,000 HGV journeys, minimising our carbon footprint and our impact on London’s road network.

Chairman Sir Neville Simms said: “I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve made this year and, despite the disruption of the past few months, we can reflect on 2019/20 as an exceptional year for the Tideway project.

“Our culture and values, including our commitment to the health safety and wellbeing of all, were critical to us being able to safely pause work in response to the pandemic.

“Our model of infrastructure funding has a vital role in the investment our country needs and, in the face of continuing challenges in the economy, our success will be a strong signal to promoters, investors and government.”

Tideway paused all non-essential construction activity in line with public health guidance at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown. Since then, detailed site-by-site safety reviews have been carried out and social distancing measures introduced to allow work to safely restart, and we continue to work toward full capacity.

Tideway is now assessing the full impact of the pandemic on the timetable and costs of the project in discussion with its contractors and Ofwat and expects to report on this in more detail later in the year.

CEO Andy Mitchell said: “This has been a big year for the Tideway project, one in which we’ve marked our first tunnel breakthrough, passed the peak in terms of river transport and completed more than half of our tunnelling.

“It’s clear that the pandemic will have an impact on our schedule and costs, but our solid performance in this and previous years has put us in a strong position to respond to the ongoing situation. 

“The Tideway project is vital to the health of London’s greatest natural asset, the River Thames, and we look forward to making significant progress in the year ahead.”

Alongside the construction progress, this year’s annual report also details the social impact of our work, with more than 6,500 staff volunteer hours, tens of thousands raised for charities, and our move to align our project legacy commitments with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

ENDS