Crossrail Royal Oak portal early completion

Crossrail’s Royal Oak portal has been completed a month ahead of schedule. Works included a massive ramp structure to take the Crossrail tracks from surface to the tunnels. Construction began in January 2010 by a Costain and Skanska JV. Capita Symonds designed the portal.

At the end of the ramp, a concrete headwall was constructed with a pair of 7.24m-diameter tunnel eyes created for the installation of steel rings. The eyes mark the exact spot where the TBMs will kick off excavation for the Crossrail tunnels.

A Crossrail spokesman said that prehistoric animal bones were unearthed during excavation. These will be transferred to the Natural History Museum.

The Crossrail project requires five tunnel portals, to be constructed at Pudding Mill Lane, Victoria Dock, North Woolwich and Plumstead, as well as Royal Oak.