Tideway has teamed up with rapper and musician Professor Green to promote 2021’s biggest underground duo, in a case of one breakthrough artist discovering another.

The two ‘breakthrough artists’ causing a buzz on social media were last night revealed to be Tideway’s tunnel boring machines (TBMs), Ursula and Selina. 

Green, along with Rinse FM, BBC Sounds artist Emerald and East Londoner musician Hak Baker, hyped the mysterious duo on social media ahead of the big reveal.

Their exploits were shared on Instagram via @hypeTBM drawing widespread social buzz from the music community around their identity, while Green took a virtual tour of the TBMs with Tideway engineer, Anni He. 

Professor Green said: “I’ve worked with some underground artists in my time, but none as big as this. It was a very exciting day, virtually travelling underground to see what the duo have been up to.

“Ursula TBM has been tunnelling under the River Thames from Battersea for nearly two years and now broken through into Bermondsey.

“From here Selina TBM picks up the baton to start the final stage of the tunnel - through my neck of the woods in East London.

“She is the last TBM to start work but will be tunnelling the deepest – at least 60m underground. Very few Londoners will get to experience what I have, but all of us will reap huge benefits from a cleaner River Thames.”

The super sewer will have a significant positive impact on the lives of Londoners who work, live and play on the river. London currently relies on a 150-year-old sewer system built for a population less than half its size.

Which means millions of tonnes of raw sewage enters the river when drains overflow - equivalent to eight billion toilets flushes a year. 

The TBMs latest exploits were shared via their Instagram account @hypeTBM. Some of London’s cutting edge music and urban influencers such as Rinse FM, musician Hak Baker and presenter Emerald, got involved with the tease and reveal campaign to make young Londoners aware of the benefits the super sewer will bring. 

Mechanical Engineer Anni He said: “It was great to show Professor Green the immense scale of our Ursula TBM, the vast tunnel network the machines are creating and explain the environmental benefits the super sewer will bring.

“With less than a quarter of young Londoners aware of the super sewer, hopefully, this is the kind of ‘breakthrough’ that will spark their interest. I am so proud to be a part of this project, helping to make a real difference to the lives of future generations with a cleaner River Thames.”

Selina TBM is named after Dr Selina Fox, who founded the Bermondsey Medical Mission in 1904, while Ursula is named after Dr Audrey 'Ursula' Smith, a British cryobiologist who discovered the use of glycerol to protect human red blood cells during freezing.

Tideway is bringing jobs and recreation back to the river, creating new public spaces along the Thames and keeping our river clean for future generations.