Image courtesy of TFL.

Announcing our partnership with Ferrovial to supply communications solutions for the Silvertown Tunnel Construction Project

We are happy to announce that we are due to start working on the Silvertown Tunnel project, providing vital communications solutions to the teams of construction workers involved in the build.

This new tunnel will connect the Greenwich peninsula and the Silvertown district.

The new infrastructure will serve as an alternative to the Blackwall Tunnel, improving traffic flows not only under the River Thames but also in the approaches between Docklands / East London and Southeast London. Currently, an estimated one million hours are wasted each year queuing for the Blackwall tunnel. For those people directly affected this has an economic cost of £10 million every year.

The Construction Stage

The Silvertown Tunnel Project is a 1.4 km twin bore road tunnel which will be built under the River Thames. It follows a similar route to the alignment of the Emirates Air Line cable car and connects Silvertown and Greenwich.

The project has been designed to ease congestion around the Blackwall Tunnel, thus improving the environment and providing improved transport links to the East of the city. 

Overall the construction team will manage a total excavation of 600,000m3 and 100% of the suitable excavated material will be transported by river, minimising the impact of construction traffic for neighbouring communities and routes.

The works are expected to be completed in 2025 and will be located within the ultra-low Emissions zone. 

Foresolutions will be working closely with Ferrovial Construction on this project to deploy communications solutions that ensure the workers can communicate seamlessly for increased safety and efficiency.

The Silvertown Tunnel will bring new opportunities for Ferrovial Construction and Fore Solutions over the next 5 years of delivery. This is the 5th tunnelling project that Ferrovial have been awarded in London since 2008, following Crossrail, Northern Line Extension, Thames Tideway Tunnel and the Heathrow Baggage Transfer Tunnel. We also have previous experience of working with both Crossrail, Thames Tideway and Heathrow Airport.

Tom Ross, Managing Director of Foresolutions said “We are extremely excited to be awarded the contract to work with Ferrovial on this hugely important project. Technology is playing an even bigger role in construction projects these days, especially ones on such large scale where many teams of workers need to be in constant communication with each other and their project managers. This adds to our work with construction companies where we haven’t just supplied comms but also responding to today’s challenges with people monitoring, occupancy , air quality, condition monitoring social distancing and safe working. We are proud to also support these organisations with IOT strategy and direction.”