Ridham to cast segments for Tideway West 08 Feb 2018

The Morgan Sindall precast factory at Ridham Dock in Kent was recently awarded the £17 million two year contract to supply precast concrete tunnel rings for the Morgan Sindall, Balfour Beatty and BAM Nuttall joint venture delivering the West section of the Thames Tideway Tunnel from Acton to Carnwath Road.

Ridham precast factory yard

After excavation by a Herrenknecht 8m diameter EPBM, the 6.96km tunnel will be lined by 4,086 rings, each with a diameter of 7.1m. The fibre reinforced segmental lining contains Dramix 4D8060BG steel fibre from Bekaert Maccaferri.

A team of 45 workers are working in two shifts to produce 50 tunnel rings a week at the Kent based facility. Started in July 2017, production will continue to July 2019, providing local employment opportunities.

Completed ring segments will be transported by road and barge to the Tideway Carnwath Road Riverside work site in south west London ready for installation.

The factory at Ridham recently produced 4,000 tunnel rings for the 7.8m diameter Lee Tunnel project in London, and 3,300 rings of 5.5m diameter for the Northern Line Extension in Battersea.

“This is an important order for Ridham, giving two years of work for the factory. We look forward to a successful partnership with Thames Tideway and the joint venture on this high-profile project,” said David Hicks, Senior Operations Manager at Ridham.