At phase one consultation we proposed to use the site to drive the main tunnel to King’s Stairs Gardens. Since then, we have considered the comments from phase one consultation, feedback from ongoing engagement and new information; and undertaken further technical work.
We reviewed our tunnelling strategy and concluded that Abbey Mills Pumping Station should be used as a main tunnel reception site rather than a main tunnel drive site, with the main tunnel being driven to Abbey Mills Pumping Station from Chambers Wharf.
Further technical work has shown that transporting material to and from the site by the River Lee would be very difficult and is highly undesirable when they need to be transported daily over a two to three year period. A large number of barge movements would be required if Abbey Mills Pumping Station were to be used as a main tunnel drive site, given the volume of excavated material that would be produced. Given the constraints to using the River Lee to transport materials, we would need to use the residential roads to access the site.
In comparison, Chambers Wharf has significantly better river access for transporting materials. There are also fewer navigational restrictions on the River Thames when compared to the River Lee, which would allow the use of larger barges and therefore more efficient transportation of materials.
We are now proposing that site is used to receive the main tunnel from Chambers Wharf and connect the main tunnel to the Lee Tunnel, which would transfer the flows of sewage to Beckton Sewage Treatment Works.
The location of the site is shown below. It is situated to the west of Abbey Mills Pumping Station and the Lee Tunnel, which is currently under construction. The site is located within the Three Mills Conservation Area, with Prescott Channel to the west and the Channelsea River to the south and east. Residential properties are located to the north and north west of the site on Gay Road and Riverside Road.
Abbey Mills Pumping Station is our preferred site for a main tunnel reception site. This is because using this site allows us to make use of land that we own, it is also part of a large area of brownfield land and is close to the Lee Tunnel shaft which the main tunnel would need to connect to in order to transfer the flows to Beckton Sewage Treatment Works.
For more detailed information on our proposals for the Abbey Mills Pumping Station site, please see our site information paper below: