12.09.14
Work starts on Crossrail’s final east London tunnel
The boring of Crossrail’s last tunnel in east London has started, with the work expected to be complete in the next three months.
The 1,000 tonne tunnel machine Ellie, named after four-time Paralympic champion Ellie Simmonds OBE, has started its 900m journey from Limmo Peninsula, near Canning Town, towards Victoria Dock Portal.
During the work, Ellie will complete one of Crossrail’s shortest but most complex tunnels, in close proximity to the Jubilee line, Docklands Light Railway, River Thames and River Lea.
Once the work has been carried out it will complete tunnelling on Crossrail’s southeast spur, which stretches from Stepney Green to Abbey Wood. Ellie’s sister tunnelling machine, Jessica, completed the first of the two twin-tunnels from Limmo to Victoria Dock earlier this summer.
Joint venture Dragados Sisk is constructing the eastern tunnels between Pudding Mill Lane and Stepney Green, Limmo Peninsula and Farringdon, and Victoria Dock Portal and Limmo.
Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail chief executive, said: “Huge amounts of planning go into every tunnel drive, and this one is no different. We are deploying some of the world’s best engineering talent and machinery to safely build these new tunnels.”
Crossrail will complete its rail tunnels next year when tunnel machines Elizabeth and Victoria, currently in Whitechapel, reach Farringdon in central London. Currently, Crossrail’s new rail tunnels are 83% complete and the project remains on time and within budget.
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