Tideway wins sustainability accolade
16 February 2021Despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, Tideway – currently under construction and dubbed London’s ‘super sewer’ – was named Infrastructure Project of the Year at the recent edie Sustainability Leaders Awards 2021.
The Awards aim to recognise excellence in sustainable business practices ranging from best efficiency programmes and product innovation, to CSR and stakeholder engagement. This year a record 189 finalists were shortlisted across 25 categories.
The judging panel said of Tideway: “Despite its scale, Tideway has integrated environmental and social impacts into its core approach from day one, championing a number of innovative approaches which really push the boundaries and show a positive way forward for future infrastructure projects.”
On winning the main prize from edie, Darren White, Tideway’s Head of Sustainability, said: “It was a great opportunity to collect this award on behalf of the project which acknowledges all the continuous hard work from our entire supply chain.”
In a bulletin from June 2019, edie highlighted the then sustainability progress of Tideway, praising the project for slashing transport emissions and combatting plastic pollution. With millions of tonnes of spoil evacuated from the tunnel by river barge, the project had eliminated more than 200 truck journeys every day from the roads of London. This had elevated Tideway’s green footprint and made the roads safer, particularly for cyclists.
The Tideway mega-project comprises a tunnel of varying diameter running mainly under the River Thames at depths of 30-70m. Conveying sewage eastwards under gravity, the 25km-long tunnel is designed to intercept the roughly 39 million tonnes of raw sewage overflows estimated to enter the river every year. A total of six TBMs have been mining the tunnel, the largest of which has a diameter of 8.8m. Expected to cost around £4.1bn (US$5.47bn), the project is scheduled for completion in 2025.
