Ursula, the eastbound tunnel boring machine (TBM) launched from Kirtling Street in Battersea, has completed the first kilometre of her 7.5km drive towards Chambers Wharf in Bermondsey. 

As with tunnelling tradition, all of Tideway's TBMs have been given female names. Ursula was named after Dr Audrey 'Ursula' Smith, a British cryobiologist who discovered the use of glycerol to protect human red blood cells during freezing.

Along her journey under the River Thames, Ursula will pass by famous London landmarks including the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye and Waterloo Bridge.  

Due to changing ground conditions in east London, Ursula will undergo a pitstop at Tideway's Blackfriars Bridge Foreshore site, allowing the team a chance to conduct maintenance on the cutter-head that extracts spoil from the tunnel. Following this work, Ursula will continue on to her final destination at Chambers Wharf, Tideway's east drive site. 

Millicent, the westbound TBM launched from Kirtling Street late last year, recently surpassed the halfway mark of her 5km drive towards Fulham.