Two huge temporary cofferdams, a western twin wall cofferdam and an eastern combi-wall cofferdam built in the Thames near Blackfriars as part of the super sewer project have now been removed.

The structures were built out into the river to give Tideway, the company behind the project, space to undertake its works.

And with the new public land now taking shape, including the installation of the final piece of new granite river wall (see below), the temporary cofferdam has now been completely removed.

Blackfriars Project Manager Peter Rouzel said: “These two enormous temporary cofferdams were among the first things we built at this site, so to see it now fully removed demonstrates the progress being made on this vital infrastructure.

“The new public space is now taking shape, and our teams are working hard toward completing the work and opening this beautiful new piece of foreshore for public use.

“With five different artwork black ‘Stages’, of which one is a 8.8m tall waterwall, and more than 70 trees set for planting at this site, we're confident this will endure as one of our flagship above-ground spaces once the project is handed over next year.”

Blackfriars is one of most important sites on the Tideway project, with its new public realm accounting for half of the total of three acres of new land reclaimed from the Thames across the programme.

Here, Tideway's work intercepts two old sewers – the 'low level 1', and the Fleet combined sewer overflow (CSO), which spills half a million tonnes of storm sewage into the Thames in a typical year.

The site was also home to one of the most innovative engineering challenges implemented across the project – when a 3,700-tonne concrete culvert (essentially a 100m long trapezoidal pipe built to channel sewage flows) was literally floated from its Blackfriars Bridge Foreshore site to site beneath the Blackfriars Bridge and positioned on a prepared river bed, where it intercepts the Fleet Sewer outfall during a hugely complex operation. You can read more about the manoeuvre here.

Blackfriars also features a large series of public artworks, called 'Stages', designed by artist Nathan Coley.

A series of five different shaped ‘stages’, called, Stage, Zig Zag, Waterwall, The Twins and Kicker, positioned through the site will create spaces where people can sit, view, play, meet and gather.

The sculptures all work together, creating playful interactions and inviting different ways of experiencing and viewing the place – whether standing on the foreshore, Blackfriars Bridge and Blackfriars Station platform or looking across from the South Bank.

You can see and read more about the new artwork here.