Culvert Float Out at Blackfriars
THE BRIEF Love solving problems? This was a fascinating challenge for the team at Robert West.A culvert was required as part of the Thames Tideway Tunnel programme at Blackfriars to divert the flow originally discharged into the river to the new sewer. The constraints at the site - an existing Combined Sewer Outfall (CSO) underneath Blackfriars Bridge and the presence of the Waterloo and City Line Tube tunnel - prevented the construction of the temporary cofferdam in situ.VALUE-ADDED SOLUTION The solution designed by Robert West consisted of pre-casting the culvert within the Blackfriars Cofferdam and then floating it out to its final position where it was set down. The float out journey was approximately 100 metres long. The culvert itself is 100 metres long, seven metres wide, seven metres high…
