Chief Medical Officer visits Super Sewer

The Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty has paid a visit to Tideway’s Chambers Wharf site to learn more about the public health impacts of raw sewage entering rivers and waterways.

Professor Whitty was greeted by Tideway Chief Technical Officer Roger Bailey and taken on a tour of the site located close to Tower Bridge in Bermondsey by Construction Superintendent Bryan Williams. He was also escorted 70 metres below ground to see the main tunnel currently being secondary lined towards Abbey Mills, the final section of the Thames Tideway Tunnel project.

Professor Whitty said: “It was very interesting to visit the Tideway Chambers Wharf site and to hear about the impressive engineering work being done to address the issue of storm overflows, which is key in mitigating the public health impacts of raw sewage in public waterways.”

Roger Bailey said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Professor Sir Whitty to Tideway and to show him the progress we are making towards our goal of preventing sewage pollution reaching the River Thames. A cleaner river will not only benefit the wildlife in and around the Thames, but will mean a cleaner healthier environment for Londoners and visitors to our city too.”

Chambers Wharf site is one of the main drive sites on Tideway, meaning it received and launched Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) to construct the main super sewer.  It also received the TBM which constructed the smaller Greenwich Connection Tunnel which will help tackle the problem of sewage overflow into the Deptford Creek and River Ravensbourne diverting them into the main tunnel in Bermondsey.

When completed the super sewer will prevent 95% of sewage overflows which overwhelm the existing Victorian system and flow into the River Thames after rainfall.