August 16 - Port of Tilbury and S Walsh's new construction alliance - London Construction Link (LCL) - has started to carry out the waterborne delivery of the Thames Tideway Tunnel (TTT) project offices to Central London.
The first of 99 office segments was loaded aboard specialist pontoons provided by S Walsh to sail 22 miles (35.4 km) up the River Thames from the Port of Tilbury to Chamber Wharf on the Southern bank of the river. Over 13 barge journeys will be completed each carrying up to 12 offices across two pontoons.
The offices are part of the enabling works to set up the Chamber Wharf drive site for TTT - the GBP4.2 billion (USD5.45 billion) construction project which will create a new 16 mile sewage tunnel for London. This is one of the first movements by water for the TTT project completed by London Construction Link, which has provided the storage, handling and the delivery by water to the site where the offices are in place for the duration of the project, which is expected to complete in 2023.
Commenting on the project Peter Ward, senior asset manager from the Port of Tilbury said: "With the delivery of the offices for the Tideway East project team, we have demonstrated how effective waterborne transportation is to deliver into Central London. By using the River Thames, we are not only reducing the road mile impact for the project but we are also helping to reduce congestion on the roads.
"At London Construction Link we hope to continue to provide a range of supporting services to all three contractors involved in the TTT project over the next few years offering our expertise in warehouse consolidation, waterborne transportation and handling services."
Westley Pickup, commercial director from S Walsh said: "Tideway Tunnel is a real testament to what can be achieved by using the River Thames to reduce lorry movements within Central London whilst reducing the risk to vulnerable road users. S.Walsh has invested over £3.0 million (USD3.9 million) in the last 12 months on new marine transportation equipment in order to support works on the River Thames and the LCL Alliance."
LCL is able to handle and deliver everything from a tunnel boring machine to containers.
