The London Tideway Tunnel is now operational, intercepting, storing and transferring sewage waste away from the River Thames. The tunnel is 25km long and has already intercepted more than nine million tonnes of storm sewage.
To mark this achievement Tideway hosted a celebration at the newly created Bazalgette Embankment site for staff, key stakeholders and members of the public. This site, located at the Blackfriars Bridge Foreshore, diverts flows from the Fleet Main CSO and original Bazalgette Low Level Sewer into the tunnel.
Binnies staff have been involved since the early planning stages.
The original architect of London’s sewer system
The celebration featured actors and dancers representing the tunnel and rivers, alongside portrayals of those who delivered the project—including a performance by an actor playing Joseph Bazalgette, the original architect of London’s sewer system.
Bazalgette Embankment provides a new area of public realm, reclaimed from the river – at over 110 metres long, it’s the largest single structure built in the Thames in some 150 years. Hard and soft landscaping has been provided, trees and vegetation planted and street furniture installed.
Artist Nathan Coley was commissioned by Tideway to create a site-specific artwork for Bazalgette Embankment, driven by Tideway’s Heritage Interpretation Strategy. His work, entitled ‘Stages’, features five sculptural forms made from Techcrete limestone concrete with black basalt and quartz aggregate, symbolising the hidden yet heroic engineering of Bazalgette’s Victorian sewer system.
It is planned to open the Bazalgette Embankment site to the public before the end of the year.