The first trainload of excavated material from Crossrail tunnels has left west London.
Thirteen wagons left Crossrail’s Westbourne Park site for Northfleet, Kent, carrying 492 tonnes of earth. From Northfleet, the material will be transferred by ship to regeneration sites, including a new RSPB nature reserve at Wallasea Island, Essex.
Crossrail’s Western Tunnels Project Manager, Andy Alder, said:
“At the peak, the tunneling machines constructing the western tunnels will extract 7,000 tonnes of excavated material a day from underneath the streets of London. This excavated material will be used to help create a RSPB nature reserve at Wallasea Island that will be enjoyed for generations to come.”
More than 1 million tones of earth will be excavated during the tunneling works for Crossrail’s 6.4 kilometre western tunnels project.
