Silvertown Tunnel: Tunnelling Under the Thames With UK’s Largest TBM
Gigantic construction projects with ground-breaking engineering achievements are nothing unusual in London: infrastructure projects such as Crossrail, Thames Tideway and HS2 have set milestones in recent years. With the Silvertown Tunnel, a new road tunnel is now being built under the Thames in the east of the megacity – with the largest tunnel boring machine (TBM) ever used in the UK.
Tower Bridge – one of the city’s most distinctive landmarks – is the last bridge link across the Thames within the city before the river takes its course through the banking district of Canary Wharf, the former shipyards and docklands, towards the North Sea. East of Tower Bridge, the Rotherhithe Tunnel and Blackwall Tunnel and the ferry at Woolwich Arsenal are the only transport links to cross the river within the city. However, these are chronically congested. Traffic jams and long tailbacks are the daily plight of commuters and residents. Even though the face of the city has changed...
