Blackfriars Bridge Foreshore

At our Blackfriars Bridge Foreshore site, we are working in a cofferdam, a dry working area built into the river, which we have split into two sections. 

In the eastern section of our cofferdam, we constructed a 3,700 tonne concrete culvert, which will intercept sewage and redirect it towards the new super sewer. Once the culvert was in full shape, we carefully flooded this section of the cofferdam and floated it 100m-along the river into its final position below Blackfriars Bridge.  Following the successful float-out of the culvert, we re-sealed the cofferdam and carefully drained the cofferdam to form a dry working area. We have now commenced the concrete works to build the new Combined Sewer Outfall (CSO) concrete structures.  

In addition to the works being undertaken within the site, there is a team that are undertaking works within the existing Low Level 1 sewer; the team are preparing the sewer by removing the silt that has accumulated within it through the years. The clean-out of the silt will enable the installation of a liner within the sewer in preparation for the future diversion of the sewer into the Tideway CSO structures.

We are currently excavating our 53m-deep shaft within the western section of our cofferdam, a dry working area built into the river. We had previously excavated our shaft to 25m deep before pausing excavation as our tunnel boring machine, Ursula, passed directly below.

To complete this work, we will be using the spray concrete lining method. As each section of the shaft is excavated, we will spray concrete onto exposed ground to build the walls of the shaft. All materials excavated from the shaft will be removed from site by barge.

If you have any questions about this or our site at Blackfriars Bridge Foreshore please get in touch with our helpdesk on 08000 30 80 80 or [email protected]

Standard Working Hours

08:00 - 18:00 Monday - Friday

08:00 - 13:00 Saturday

There is a one hour mobilisation period before and after Standard Working Hours, plus maintenance periods on Saturday 1-5pm and Sundays 10am-4pm.

Extended Working Hours

We are currently working extended working hours in the western section of our cofferdam

24hrs Monday - Friday (Work commences 06:30 Monday and finishes 18:30 Friday) 

Our most recent resident's drop-in meeting was hosted on 20 August 2020. 

If you'd like to join our next community meeting, please get in touch via email at [email protected]. Due to current restrictions, all of our community meetings are currently being hosted online. 

• All static machinery and plant is screened or enclosed
• The excavated material handling area has been enclosed
• Vehicle movements are strictly limited to set times and coordinated to ensure that no lorries queue outside of the site
• Footpath diversions are clearly signposted
• Hoarding has been erected on the site boundaries

There are lots of ways to find out what’s happening at this site, you can:

• Call our 24 hour Tideway Helpdesk 08000 30 80 80 or email [email protected]
• Take a moment to read the latest updates on the noticeboards on our hoardings.
• Email our dedicated Community Relations teams available to answer your questions or meet with you, via [email protected]
• Join our regular Community Liaison Working Group meetings, to attend the meetings or receive the minutes and presentations from past meetings, email [email protected]. 

If you call our helpdesk you may notice a slight change as we have a new team providing this service, please note that our contact details have not changed so you can continue to get in touch with us in the usual way by calling 08000 30 80 80 or emailing [email protected]

You can also track our progress and what we're doing in our local communities on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook