6. Tunnel has settled around
166mm since construction
150+ years ago
As constructed
Tunnel footings
have moved
inwards
Current
Sewer Bridge has SettledAway from the Rail
tunnel the sewer is
in its original
location
Cracking Cracking
London Underground Tunnel
Sewer passing through crown
of tunnel
The Problem
8. Key Construction Issues
• Busy 6 lane highway - Key Artery Road for Central London.
• Baker Street Underground Station - One of LUL’s Key Stations
• Residential - Known noise complaint black spot
• Pedestrians – Very busy pedestrian route
• Cycling - Key cycle route
• Buses – Principle Bus Route
• Parking – Very Limited
• Site Compound availability – Very Limited
• Excavation would be extremely complex in this location
• Flow within the sewer is relatively low but would need to be dealt with.
• Multiple Stakeholders.
9. Key Design Issues
• Capable of being constructed by hand through a small manhole.
• The flow in the sewer could not be diverted therefore the structure had to be built with
the sewer live.
• Design life of 120 years (The existing structure is already 155 years old)
• Material choice was critical
• Low or No Maintenance.
• Light Weight.
• Take into account Bimetallic Corrosion with particular relation to the existing Cast Iron
Structure.
• Full CAT3 checks on all elements of the design.
15. Original Proposal
The original proposal was to install new
support beams under the structure with a
carbon fibre lining grouted in place inside
the sewer
16. Revised Structure
Duplex Vierendeel Girder Structure bearing on the walls
of the London Underground Tunnel with a Glass Fibre
Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) Liner.
17. The New Sewer Bridge
Approx.
100 Tonnes
Approx.
100 Tonnes
Original
Padstone
Locations
(To remain)
Bearing Bearing
20. Test Assembly of Liner and Liner Testing
High Specification GFRP
inner structure had to be
100% watertight to a
pressure 1.5 times greater
than its maximum operating
pressure with equally high
levels of Chemical resistance.
GFRP inner structure held
together and secured to the
Vierendeel Girder by 4500 Duplex
Bolts
26. The Finished Product
• Saved over 26,000 tonnes of CO2
• Defined a new best practice standard for
confined space entry which has now
been adopted by many other projects.
• Didn’t result in any property flooding.
• Multi Award Winner
• Eliminated the need for major Road and
Rail closures reducing misery for hundreds
oj thousands of commuters
• Saved £23m against the Business Plan
Solution
At this location the sewer is supported by 2 primary cast iron beams which span between pad-stone embedded within the brick wall of the railway tunnel. Between these two primary beams are profiled cast iron invert plates connected back to the beams via bolted connections. A brick crown completes the sewer profile.
Severe cracking on either side due to settlement and an inward movement of the tunnel footings. Total settlement since construction has been 166mm.
Condition pre-2010 and during condition assessment in 2015.
Road composition – Bomb protection during World War 2
Previous solution was a modular carbon fibre liner (within the sewer) and steel beam support to be clamped to the underside of the cast iron girders within the LU tunnel.
3 key themes;
Change in load path – by clamping to the underside of the beams, we would be changing the load path that the girders have been subject too over the last 160years. Concerns here is it would move from being in compression to now in tension (although calc. proved very conservatively there was capacity in them to do so.
Maintenance and