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| Amec wins £28m Thames Water contract The UK engineering company, Amec has been awarded a £28m contract by Thames Water to construct a 4.5km tunnel that will connect a major water treatment works to the London Ring Main and help ensure security of water supply to the capital. The 2.85m diameter concrete-lined tunnel will run from an existing shaft at Thames Water's reservoir site at Stoke Newington and join the Ring Main at the New River Head pumping station, Finsbury. Detailed design begins immediately with work on site scheduled to start in July this year. Completion is planned for spring 2010. The project forms part of a £90m strategic improvement to the Ring Main, which also includes the construction of a new tunnel from the Honor Oak reservoir, Forest Hill, to Brixton. The Ring Main was built to improve the speed and efficiency of transferring supplies of drinking water across the capital. At 50 miles long, the tunnel runs beneath the capital like an underground M25 at an average depth of 40 metres, deeper than most lines on the London Underground. The tunnel is wide enough to allow a car to pass through and is built in a ring so that water can flow in either direction. If a section is taken out of service for maintenance, supplies can still be delivered to every area of London. Water is moved under gravity, resulting in large energy savings as expensive overland pumping is reduced. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Construction News :: home page |