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Thames Water has announced that a state-of-the-art tunnelling machine nicknamed 'Beckton Becky' is ready to begin work tunnelling 750 metres below the Beckton sewage works in east London.
The tunnelling work is part of a £190 million project to extend the treatment works to enable it to handle 60 per cent more sewage.
Tamesis - a Joint Venture between Laing O’Rourke and IMTECH - are working with Thames Water on the extension project and the tunnel shaft was created by Joseph Gallagher Group.
Thames Water says that environmental concerns are the major motivation behind the scheme.
Nick Fawcett, Thames Water's head of delivery, said: "The lowering of Beckton Becky is another important milestone towards our goal of creating a cleaner, healthier River Thames, by dealing with the unacceptable problem of sewage discharges into the river during heavy rainfall."
As part of the company's London Tideway Improvements programme, four other major sewage works in the capital will also be upgraded, along with the creation of the £635 million Lee Tunnel and the proposed Thames Tunnel.
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