Phil Stride - The Thames Tideway Tunnel: Preventing Another Great Stink

Wick Lane under construction. (Courtesy Mike Jones)

Its curious that if a major public project goes well, it can be taken for granted. But if there are problems, you hear all about it. The Thames Tideway Tunnel has been very successful thus far, so the usual rule applies. Its all the more welcome, then, to read Phil Strides painstaking record of this unprecedented piece of civil engineering.

Eminently sensibly, the Thames Tideway Tunnel builds on the legacy and ideas of Sir Joseph Bazalgettes celebrated Victorian drainage system for London (declaration of interest: Im his great, great grandson). Were still using it five generations on. I dont believe were undertaking enough schemes today of ambition and vision that will benefit our ancestors. But the Thames Tideway Tunnel is just such a project. Like its Victorian antecedent, itll allow London to continue to expand as the worlds population gravitates towards cities. Phil Stride argues this well here. Its about health and wealth.

Theres something reassuring comforting, even when history repeats itself. The Thames Tideway Tunnel relies on gravity propulsion and it runs from west to east, as did Sir Joes system. There have been public protests, now as then (Stride sets out a compelling blueprint for a patient and honest, modern consultation). Planning, according to Stride, was the most challenging, as it was for my ancestor when he dug up the whole of London. And the project team has needed to win the support of all major political parties just as in his time Bazalgette negotiated funds from both a Tory Chancellor (Disraeli) and a Whig one (Gladstone).

For those of you who enjoyed the BBC2 series on the Thames Tideway Tunnel (a hymn to pride, passion and pile-driving), this book now gives you the detailed story of how the Super Sewer was planned, designed, funded and is being executed. A valuable record for all those that follow.

Its not just about public and ecological health, though it is. It goes beyond economic benefit, though thats crucial. This is also about quality of life in our capital, creating more valuable public space. Now thats what I call a legacy project.

Sir Peter Bazalgette
October 2018

Cover illustrations:Front: Lee Tunnel. Back: Brickwork arch forming access chamber to the Fleet Main Sewer.

First published 2019

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

Phil Stride, 2019

The right of Phil Stride to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 0 7509 8981 7

Typesetting and origination by The History Press

Printed in Turkey by Imak

eBook converted by Geethik Technologies

A visit with key stakeholders to the Fleet Main Sewer, standing behind an original cast-iron flap valve that was installed as part of Bazalgettes sewer system.