Crossrail outlines new approach to refurbishing the Connaught Tunnel [Crossrail]
Date: 02/02/2012
Crossrail today announced that it has adopted a new approach to restoring and enlarging the Connaught Tunnel which is safer and more efficient. Connaught Tunnel in the Royal Docks was built in 1878 and was part of the North London Line until 2006. The tunnel will be extensively refurbished as part of works to construct Crossrail’s new Abbey Wood branch. Sections of the existing tunnel are in a poor structural condition. In 1935, larger ships began scraping the bottom of the Royal Victoria Dock which sits above the Connaught Tunnel. As part of work to deepen the dock, the central section of the tunnel was narrowed with brickwork removed and steel segments installed. Crossrail originally planned to strengthen the central section of the tunnel by removing the existing steel linings and back filling the entire section with concrete foam. These tunnels would then have been enlarged by boring through the concrete to create tunnels that are large enough for Crossrail trains to pass. Crossrail will now place cofferdams in the Connaught Passage between the Victoria and Royal Albert Docks, pump out the water and create a dry construction site allowing workers to dig down to the tunnel to undertake the enlargement work through a ‘cut and cover’ approach. [From Richard Buckby]
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Crossrail
Crossrail today announced that it has adopted a new approach to restoring and enlarging the Connaught Tunnel which is safer and more efficient.
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