The 1.4km Silvertown Tunnel will link Newham, north of the river, to the Greenwich Peninsula when it opens in 2025.
It is expected to alleviate congestion at the Blackwall Tunnel and support economic growth across east and southeast London.
TfL awarded Riverlinx SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) the contract for financing and overseeing the design, build and maintenance of the Silvertown Tunnel in 2019. Riverlinx SPV is a consortium of Abrdn, Invesis, Cintra, Macquarie Capital and SK Ecoplant.
The Riverlinx CJV (Construction Joint Venture) is contracted by TfL and Riverlinx SPV to complete the design and construction. Riverlinx CJV is a joint venture of Bam Nuttall, Ferrovial Construction and SK Ecoplant – Dutch, Spanish and Korean companies respectively.
Construction work on the project began in 2020 in preparation for launch of the tunnel boring machine (TBM). Around 780 people are working full-time on the project.
Aside from a small section around the tunnel entrances, which will be built using a cut and cover technique, the two bores that make up the Silvertown Tunnel are being built using an 82-metre-long TBM, named Jill, in honour of Jill Viner, the first female bus driver in London. The TBM has a cutter face of 11.91 metres. Now launched, it is expected to drive under the river at around 10 metres a day. When the first tunnel is completed, it will be turned around to head back to Newham and complete the second tunnel.
Across the course of the project, nearly 600,000 tonnes of material will be excavated and removed from site via barges along the river to a former landfill site in Essex as part of a restoration scheme.
Helen Wright, TfL’s head of the Silvertown Tunnel programme, said: "The start of tunnelling is a huge step forward for this project and we are committed to working hard to ensure that it is delivered with minimal impact to Londoners. As well as reducing congestion and providing better cross-river bus opportunities, the new tunnel will also help deliver a wide range of local improvements, including dedicated walking and cycling infrastructure and new landscaping. We are working actively on these designs and we hope we can share these with local residents and stakeholders shortly, ahead of starting work on them within the next year."
Riverlinx CJV project director Juan Angel Martinez said: "This really is a terrific achievement which has only been made possible by the excellent effort and collaboration of everyone involved. I'm very proud of everything this project and our team is delivering, knowing how important it is to us and our supply chain to deliver the programme safely and responsibly, providing sustainable opportunities, career growth and benefits to the local communities and our people. Jill's journey is an excellent milestone to celebrate."
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