Tamesis wins £200M Crossness contract

Thames Water has selected Laing O'Rourke and Imtech Process joint venture Tamesis as the contractor for the £200M upgrade to its Crossness Sewage Treatment Works in east London.


Once complete, the improvements will enable the site to treat 44% more sewage than it does currently, significantly reducing the amount of storm sewage that overflows into the River Thames during heavy rainfall.

The project will involve installing a wind turbine – one of the first to power a British sewage works – that will help generate up to half the energy needed to power the site. The upgrade will also see new odour controlled treatment processes and environmental enhancements.

The work at Crossness is part of a £650M programme to improve treatment standards and increase the volume of sewage treated London’s five major sewage treatment works – Crossness, Mogden, Beckton, Long Reach and Riverside.

Thames Water’s chief operating officer, Steve Shine, said: “Although our sewage works operate well under stable, dry weather conditions, in heavy rainfall excess flows pass through storm tanks, which provide a lower standard of treatment and overflow into the tidal stretches of the River Thames to avoid sewage backing up onto the streets or even into people’s homes.”

Chris Sedman, Tamesis project director, said: “This major design-and-construction project will require multidisciplinary solutions involving civil, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and control-systems engineering, and our experienced and highly skilled team are delighted to helping to deliver such a major upgrade to London’s infrastructure.”

Before construction starts this Spring, enhancement work will begin at Crossness Nature Reserve and the Southern Marshes. Work includes clearing vegetation ahead of the bird-nesting season, constructing a new temporary access road, and installing a temporary 70m-high anemometer that will provide information on wind speed ahead of detailed design of the new wind turbine, planned to be installed in 2013.

The Crossness project is part of Thames Water’s wider London Tideway Improvements programme, comprising three major schemes: the Lee Tunnel, Thames Tunnel and Sewage Treatment Works Upgrades.

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