Thames Tideway
We established an award-winning, best-in-class solution
that supported the delivery of Tideway.
Our Experience
Thames Tideway
3 minute read
The challenge
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London’s population has more than doubled since its sewer system was built 150 years ago. As a result, millions of tonnes of raw sewage spills into the River Thames each year. The solution to this challenge was Tideway, a 26km ‘super sewer’ to intercept the sewage and clean up the river for the good of the city and its wildlife and communities.
The scale of the investment to support this mega programme meant an innovative funding method was needed – where new investors own, build, manage and maintain the tunnel in return for a fee that is charged to homeowners and businesses through Thames Water bills. Being the first funding method of its kind presented important challenges from a project controls perspective to secure and maintain confidence with investors.
The solution
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The solution was phased into three main challenges:
1. Secure approval and funding for Tideway
2. Establish a new delivery organisation
3. Deliver the scheme
We placed project controls at the heart of each challenge.
Our team created a project estimate and baseline, which was an essential step in securing scheme approval from key stakeholders including the Government, Ofwat, the Environment Agency and Thames Water. The integrity of the estimate and baseline allowed the due diligence of multiple bodies to be successfully passed, resulting in a private funding settlement for Tideway.
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In parallel to securing approval and finance, our team designed, procured and implemented an integrated controls solution. We established a best-in-class solution to support the delivery of Tideway and were later given an award for innovation in project controls at the Washington Insight Conference.
For Tideway’s delivery phase, we implementation of a data warehouse and a robust performance management platform that provided insight and analytics to key stakeholders. Our team also played a vital role in achieving cost and schedule savings and driving innovation through the supply chain.
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For every barge used to transport material...
100 lorries were kept off the road.
66 metres deep.
The tunnel needs to fall one metre every 790 metres so it can be self-cleaning.
Starting from 30 metres deep at Acton Storm Tanks, it will finish 66 metres deep at Abbey Mills Pumping Station.
25 km long. Travelling from west to east London, two connection tunnels will be 4.6km and 1.1km long
The impact
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Project controls was essential in securing approval and attracting private investment for Tideway. It enabled the programme to transition into an effective delivery phase where construction remained on track.
One of the key learnings from Tideway is that deploying effective controls from the outset of a large programme is a key enabler, in fact it is the cornerstone for effective delivery.
