London & South East

Pudding Mill Lane Portal takes shape

Crossrail Pudding Mill LaneThe ongoing construction of the Pudding Mill Lane Portal will prepare the site for the next stage of the exciting Crossrail project.

Pudding Mill Lane is Crossrail’s eastern tunnel portal and will see tunnel boring machines (TBM) launched from Stepney Green to Pudding Mill Lane (Drive Z) in 2014.

Work on Pudding Mill Lane Portal has included the construction of a 300 metre long tunnel, a 120 metre long approach ramp and two brand new bridges over the City Mill River for both Crossrail and Docklands Light Railway (DLR) lines. A large outdoor area will also be constructed on the site in order to provide passengers with access to local bus services.

Enabling works were completed on the site in late 2011 and diaphragm walls are currently being built and installed. Following this, piling work to the retaining walls of the DLR bridge will take place.

Due to the site’s close proximity to Olympic Park, work will be suspended on Pudding Mill Lane Portal during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Following the short break for the games, work will reconvene on the site.

Main contractor for the Pudding Mill Lane Portal project is Morgan Sindall Infrastructure Limited.

Due to the construction of the portal, the nearby DLR is being relocated from its current location to a new site between the River Lea and City Mill River.

Planning permission for the new DLR was granted as part the Crossrail Act 2008, which also granted approval to the London Borough of Newham for the external look of the station. This included making decisions on which materials were to be used for fences, walls, lighting and boundary walls.

In July 2011, Newham’s Strategic Development Committee approved plans for the replacement Docklands Light Railway station at Pudding Mill Lane and construction commenced in the second half of 2011.

The purpose-built station has been designed by Weston Williamson and takes into account the future needs of the station, particularly the expected increase in passengers. As a result, measures have been taken to accommodate larger three-car DLR trains, whilst escalators will be incorporated in the scheme at a later date.

London Rail’s Chief Operating Officer, Howard Smith, said:

“TfL welcomes the opportunity presented by Crossrail’s construction to provide DLR passengers with a brand new station at Pudding Mill Lane.

“The new station will be able to accommodate many more passengers than the existing station and it will support future development as well as the future use of the Olympic stadium.”

Once the Pudding Mill Lane Portal becomes fully operational, TBMs will arrive at the site in early 2014 in order to create tunnels to Stepney Green. The project is scheduled for completion in 2015.

itmsoil

itmsoil specialises in the design, manufacture, installation and monitoring of structural and geotechnical instrumentation for use on a number of key civil engineering projects throughout the world. The company has worked on many high profile projects over the last 10 years, including the M6 and M74 Completion projects, Green Park Step Free-Access Project, Olympic Park and the Lower Lea Cable Tunnels. Current projects include the Victoria Station Upgrade for London Underground/Taylor Woodrow-Bam Nuttall, Crossrail C701 (Crossrail) and Crossrail C300/C410 (BAM Nuttall/Ferrovial/Kier).

itmsoil’s involvement with the Crossrail C701 contract includes the supply and installation of over 250 Leica TM30 Robotic Total Stations complete with thousands of Geodetic mini-prisms. These are designed to monitor a range of third party assets including London Underground, DLR and Network Rail Infrastructures. All data is presented on Crossrail’s Underground Construction Management System (UCIMS) which has been purpose built by itmsoil to manage the huge quantity of monitoring data.

itmsoil C701 Project Manager, Brendon Oram, said:

“We pride ourselves on working on some of the largest and most demanding structural and geotechnical projects in the world. Our instrumentation systems have formed a vital part of various projects’ success, providing high-quality data and assisting engineers in making timely decisions.”

Southdowns Environmental Consultants Ltd

Established in 1996 Southdowns Environmental Consultants Ltd operates in a number of industry sectors providing specialist consultancy services on acoustics, noise and vibration.

On the Crossrail project Southdowns is providing a range of technical support services associated with construction noise vibration management. This includes the preparation of consent applications under Section 61 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 and the monitoring of noise and vibration compliance once works are underway. Southdowns is supporting a number of major civil contractors across the footprint of the project.

Southdowns Environmental Consultants Ltd Director, Rick Methold, said:

“Southdowns has vast experience working alongside some of the world’s largest civil engineering contractors, so we understand the specific needs of our clients and can tailor our services accordingly. We are dealing with some challenging acoustical issues on this project ranging from the provision of giant enclosures around large worksites operating 24/7, to the deployment of monitoring equipment powered solely by hydrogen fuel cell technology.”

About the author

Roma Publications