Thames Tideway Tunnel briefing

Last night I organised a briefing for the Putney Society and myself from the Head of Thames Water's Tideway Tunnel project. You can read about the project in two of my posts from last year: here and here.

I learnt a huge amount about the project and was grateful for the briefing because there will be far bigger consequences for our area than I originally anticipated.

The main tunnel, which will run from West London through to Beckton in the east end, will take eight years to build - completed in 2020 - and will require six massive boreholes to get the drilling equipment down and the tunnel debris up. Those six holes will require an area the equivalent of three football pitches to be acquired along the route, one of which will need to be open space somewhere in the vicinity of Putney/Barnes.

In addition there are two local overflow discharge outlets - which discharge a mix of rainwater and untreated sewage - direct into the Thames at Putney. One of these is by the mouth of Beverley Brook; the other by Putney Bridge. These two areas will need smaller holes drilled as they are connected to the Tideway tunnel.

This is vitally important work needed to stop the discharge of raw sewage into the Thames whenever it rains heavily. This is an especially big issue for us due to Putney's association with rowing and other riparian activities.



As a result of tonight's meeting, the Thames Water team agreed to address a full meeting of the Putney Society on Thursday 25 June - put the date in your diary if you want to come along and learn more.