Crossrail today announced that a contract notice has been placed in the Official Journal of the European Union seeking expressions of interest for the remaining tunnel portal at Victoria Dock – C340. The value of the contract is in the region of US$82M and the closing date for expressions of interest is 24 August 2011.
It is anticipated that the contract will be awarded in spring 2012 with construction getting underway in Autumn 2012.
Five new tunnel portals will be constructed as part of Crossrail at Royal Oak, Pudding Mill Lane, Victoria Dock, North Woolwich and Plumstead.
The Western and Eastern running tunnels will have tunnel portals at Royal Oak, Pudding Mill Lane and Victoria Dock. The Thames Tunnel between North Woolwich and Plumstead will have tunnel portals constructed at either end.
Costain Skanska JV were awarded the contract to deliver the Royal Oak Portal. Construction of Pudding Mill Lane Portal is being undertaken by Morgan Sindall (Infrastructure) Limited, whilst construction of North Woolwich and Plumstead portals are being undertaken by a Joint Venture comprising Hochtief Construction AG and J Murphy & Sons Ltd. These works are included as part of the C310 Thames Tunnel contract.
Construction of the first tunnel portal got underway at Royal Oak in January 2010 and is due to complete in early 2012. The first Crossrail TBM will set out on its journey from Royal Oak towards Farringdon in spring 2012.
Enabling and mobilisation works are currently underway at Plumstead with utility diversion and ground clearance works ongoing at North Woolwich.
Enabling works for Pudding Mill Lane Portal started over a year ago and are on schedule to be completed at the end of 2011. Main construction for Pudding Mill Lane Portal is now underway.
Due to the close proximity of the Crossrail worksite to the Olympic Park, work on Pudding Mill Lane Portal will be suspended during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games.
Andy Mitchell, Crossrail Programme Director said, “The procurement process for the remaining Crossrail tunnel portal is now underway. The contract for Victoria Dock Portal will be awarded next year. Construction of Royal Oak Portal is advanced and is due to complete in early 2012 ahead of the first tunnel boring machine being launched from Royal Oak in spring 2012. Main construction at Pudding Mill Lane Portal is now underway with advance and enabling works progressing at the North Woolwich and Plumstead portal sites.”
A total of 21km of twin-bore tunnel is required to be constructed for Crossrail. The five tunnels to be constructed are:
- Royal Oak to Farringdon west (Drive X) – length of drive approximately 6.2km;
- Limmo Peninsula in the Royal Docks to Farringdon east (Drive Y) – length of drive approximately 8.3km;
- Stepney Green to Pudding Mill Lane (Drive Z) – length of drive approximately 2.7km;
- Limmo Peninsula in the Royal Docks to Victoria Dock Portal (Drive G) – length of drive approximately 0.9km; and
- Plumstead to North Woolwich (Drive H) – length of drive approximately 2.6km.
Crossrail will run 118km from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west, through new twin-bore 21 km tunnels under central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. It will bring an additional 1.5 million people within 45 minutes commuting distance of London’s key business districts.
When Crossrail opens it will increase London’s rail-based transport network capacity by 10%, supporting regeneration across the capital, helping to secure London’s position as a world leading financial centre, and cutting journey times across the city.
Crossrail is being delivered by Crossrail Limited (CRL). CRL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London. Crossrail is jointly sponsored by the Department for Transport and Transport for London.
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