Tunnelling marathon three quarters complete following whitechapel breakthrough
May 06, 2014
Thousand tonne boring machine Victoria breaks through into Whitechapel station as train tunnels reach 75% complete mark.Over 19 miles (32 kilometres) of tunnelling completed and more than 2.5 million tonnes of earth removed.The Crossrail is being delivered on time and on budget.
Crossrail’s train tunnels are three quarters complete following the breakthrough of Victoria, one of the project’s huge boring machines, into Whitechapel station.
The 150 metre long machine is named after Queen Victoria and began her journey at Limmo Peninsula in east London at the end of 2012. She broke into the huge underground space at Whitechapel where work is taking place 35 metres below the surface to create over a kilometre of new platform and passenger tunnels for the new Crossrail station.During the second half of 2014, whilst tunnelling will continue, the project’s focus will begin to shift to the substantial job of fitting out the stations and tunnels.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said:
"With three quarters of tunnelling complete, we're tantalisingly close to finishing what is without doubt a monumental feat of engineering. It's quite remarkable what the Crossrail team has achieved so far and we now look forward to the next exciting stage of the project - the fitting out of the Crossrail stations of the future."
Rail Minister Stephen Hammond said:
"Crossrail is set to transform rail travel across the South East when it opens in 2018, improving journeys for thousands of passengers and securing long-term economic benefits across the region and beyond. This is a major milestone in the Crossrail project, and I am delighted with the progress that is being made."
Crossrail Chief Executive Andrew Wolstenholme said:
"Our tunnelling marathon deep beneath the streets of the capital is continuing apace with the construction of the new rail tunnels now three quarters complete. Over the past two years, our huge machines have built more than 19 miles of tunnels and removed more than two million tonnes of earth."
Three of Crossrail’s boring machines have already retired, with a further five still in use.
- In the west, the tunnels between the Royal Oak Portal and Farringdon are complete.
- In the east, Victoria and Elizabeth have reached Whitechapel; Ellie is heading towards Stepney Green and Jessica is being prepared to complete Crossrail’s shortest tunnel drive between Limmo Peninsula and Victoria Dock.
- On the south east section of the route, Sophia has finished her drive and Mary is heading under the Thames.
When Crossrail opens in 2018, it will increase London's rail-based transport network capacity by 10 per cent and dramatically cut journey times across the city, bringing an extra 1.5 million people to within 45 minutes of central London.
More News and Articles
Aug 28, 2024
News
ITpipes Secures $20M to Transform Water Infrastructure Management
ITpipes announced it has secured $20 million in equity financing from Trilogy Search Partners and Miramar Equity Partners.
Known for its trusted and user-friendly platform, ITpipes …
Aug 26, 2024
News
Professor Dr.-Ing. Dietrich Stein
With deep sadness we announce the loss of our founder and partner Prof Dr Dietrich Stein at the age of 85.
Engineers around the globe are thankful for his dedication to the inventions in the fields of sewers, …
Aug 26, 2024
News
PPI Releases New Installation Guide for PE4710 Pipe
PPI’s MAB-11-2024 Covers HDPE Water Pipelines Up to 60-in. Diameter and 10,000-ft Long Pulls
Developed by the Municipal Advisory Board (MAB) – and published with the help of the members of the …
Aug 23, 2024
News
Faster wide-scale leak detection now within reach
Mass deployment of connected leak loggers is being made possible by the latest technology, writes Tony Gwynne, global leakage solutions director, Ovarro
Water companies in England and Wales are …
Aug 21, 2024
News
Kraken awakens customer service potential in water
The innovative customer service platform Kraken has made a successful transfer from energy to water. Ahead of their presentation at UKWIR’s annual conference, Portsmouth Water chief executive …
Aug 19, 2024
News
Predicting the toxicity of chemicals with AI
Researchers at Eawag and the Swiss Data Science Center have trained AI algorithms with a comprehensive ecotoxicological dataset. Now their machine learning models can predict how toxic chemicals are …
Aug 16, 2024
News
Goodbye water loss: Trenchless pipe renewal in Brazil
Pipe renewal in Brazil
How do you stop water loss through leaks in old pipe systems without major environmental impacts and restrictions? The answer: with trenchless technology, or more precisely …
Aug 14, 2024
Article
Impact of high-temperature heat storage on groundwater
In a recently launched project, the aquatic research institute Eawag is investigating how the use of borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) affects the surrounding soil, the groundwater …
Aug 12, 2024
News
Watercare completes East Coast Bays sewer link
Watercare has successfully finished the final connection on the East Coast Bays link sewer at Windsor Park in New Zealand.
Much of the East Coast Bays sewer link was installed using horizontal directional …
Aug 09, 2024
Article
Innovative water solutions for sustainable cities
Cities need to become more sustainable and use their water resources more efficiently. Managing water in local small-scale cycles is one possible solution. A new white paper by Eawag, the University …
Aug 07, 2024
Article
How digital technologies contribute to universal drinking water
Digital water technologies have an important role in ensuring universal access to safe drinking water by 2030, that is according to a new report from the World Health Organisation. …
Aug 05, 2024
News
Knowledge transfer on sustainable water infrastructure in India
India’s fast-growing cities need an efficient infrastructure for water supply and wastewater disposal. A research cooperation, is therefore supporting the development of a sustainable …
Contact
Crossrail Press Office
United Kingdom
Phone:
020 3229 9552