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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:02,039 --> 00:00:07,840 In this episode... Look, it's multi -kilometres of nearly eight metres 2 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:10,940 tunnel through the centre of London. It's absolutely enormous. 3 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:15,040 A multi -billion dollar super sewer network. 4 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:19,200 Some of the things that we are doing here are cutting -edge technology, world 5 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:20,200 -class engineering. 6 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,020 And the groundbreaking innovations from history. 7 00:00:24,980 --> 00:00:29,520 There's a really exciting piece of important engineering history somewhere 8 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:30,520 this building. 9 00:00:31,530 --> 00:00:34,470 That make the impossible possible. 10 00:00:43,730 --> 00:00:47,930 London. Spanning over 600 square miles. 11 00:00:48,250 --> 00:00:52,190 This mighty metropolis is one of the world's busiest cities. 12 00:00:54,730 --> 00:00:57,470 But danger lurks beneath these streets. 13 00:00:59,070 --> 00:01:02,130 London's sewers have reached maximum capacity. 14 00:01:03,450 --> 00:01:08,170 The underground network is full of waste from sinks, toilets, and washing 15 00:01:08,170 --> 00:01:09,470 machines around the city. 16 00:01:11,510 --> 00:01:14,710 Engineers tackle five blockages every hour. 17 00:01:15,810 --> 00:01:19,790 It costs roughly $1 .3 million every month. 18 00:01:20,430 --> 00:01:23,530 And the torrent of raw sewage is overflowing. 19 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,840 Archaeologist Kathy Newland is looking at the root of the problem. 20 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:36,820 London's original sewer system was built 150 years ago by Joseph Bazalgette. He 21 00:01:36,820 --> 00:01:38,800 was considered an engineering genius. 22 00:01:39,220 --> 00:01:41,580 But time and London has moved on. 23 00:01:42,100 --> 00:01:46,300 We've grown from a population of 2 million people to more than 9 million 24 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:48,740 And the system just can't cope. 25 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:55,440 For centuries, London has been struggling to deal with its most basic 26 00:01:56,580 --> 00:02:01,680 Before London got its first sewer system, the city's waste was dumped 27 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:02,820 into the River Thames. 28 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:08,900 And during the summer of 1858, the hot weather exacerbated the smell of 29 00:02:08,900 --> 00:02:13,340 untreated human waste, causing a crisis known as the Great Stink. 30 00:02:15,740 --> 00:02:19,200 Today, the mighty Thames is under threat once again. 31 00:02:21,410 --> 00:02:26,350 London -born construction engineer Ray Cantwell lives near the river and knows 32 00:02:26,350 --> 00:02:27,710 the extent of the problem. 33 00:02:28,670 --> 00:02:31,890 My mum used to actually be able to swim across the River Thames from Bishop's 34 00:02:31,890 --> 00:02:35,670 Park over to Putney. It probably wasn't recommended back in the day, but ever 35 00:02:35,670 --> 00:02:37,250 since then it's getting worse and worse. 36 00:02:38,130 --> 00:02:40,650 It's horrible to see, horrible to work around. 37 00:02:40,890 --> 00:02:43,050 It's quite disgusting, actually, if I'm honest with you. 38 00:02:46,510 --> 00:02:50,590 London's original sewer was designed for both sewage and rainwater. 39 00:02:50,990 --> 00:02:53,530 the water carried the sewage away from the city. 40 00:02:54,750 --> 00:03:00,570 Following heavy rain, combined sewage and water overflows, CSOs, prevented 41 00:03:00,570 --> 00:03:05,230 sewage from backing into people's homes by discharging directly into the Thames. 42 00:03:07,110 --> 00:03:12,030 The emergency CSOs were only designed to operate once or twice a year. 43 00:03:12,270 --> 00:03:17,570 But today, with more people and more rainfall, London's overwhelmed system 44 00:03:17,570 --> 00:03:20,350 discharges sewage almost every time it rains. 45 00:03:20,810 --> 00:03:25,370 Whenever there's over two millimeters of rainfall in London, these CSOs release 46 00:03:25,370 --> 00:03:27,590 tons of untreated sewage into the River Thames. 47 00:03:28,050 --> 00:03:30,970 Approximately 34 million tons on a typical year. 48 00:03:31,430 --> 00:03:34,490 Sometimes when you do have heavy rain the night before, you can come onto the 49 00:03:34,490 --> 00:03:38,550 site and actually see the amount of sewage going into the river and the 50 00:03:38,550 --> 00:03:41,550 discoloration of the River Thames. This is the main problem that we have to 51 00:03:41,550 --> 00:03:42,550 tackle. 52 00:03:43,910 --> 00:03:46,630 Something has to be done to save the Thames. 53 00:03:49,740 --> 00:03:53,900 So engineers have started one of Europe's biggest construction projects. 54 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:04,620 The London super sewer. 55 00:04:08,100 --> 00:04:10,800 This is a huge undertaking in the center of London. 56 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:12,640 The scale is just enormous. 57 00:04:15,500 --> 00:04:20,440 A multi -billion dollar feat of engineering that will extend London's 58 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:21,440 sewer system. 59 00:04:24,020 --> 00:04:27,320 This is exciting. This is the pinnacle of civil engineering. 60 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:29,700 It's the mega -project that get the attention. 61 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,620 That's really why I got into engineering. 62 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:38,080 Designed to transform the River Thames, it's truly groundbreaking. 63 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,580 Some of the things that we are doing here are cutting -edge technology, world 64 00:04:43,580 --> 00:04:44,539 -class engineering. 65 00:04:44,540 --> 00:04:47,600 So I'm pretty sure a lot of other countries will follow on from this and 66 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:48,600 as a set standard. 67 00:04:57,780 --> 00:05:02,400 The super sewer will bring the existing network into the 21st century. 68 00:05:02,980 --> 00:05:09,260 The combined sewer overflows, or CSOs, will be connected to 24 deep shafts. 69 00:05:10,260 --> 00:05:14,920 Under the ground, approximately 20 miles of tunnels will thread their way 70 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,120 through the tangle of the city's subterranean infrastructure. 71 00:05:19,700 --> 00:05:25,140 At the deepest shaft ever dug in London, sewage will be pumped the height of Big 72 00:05:25,140 --> 00:05:28,880 Ben up to the largest wastewater treatment plant in Europe. 73 00:05:34,190 --> 00:05:37,370 There are approximately 54 sewage outpoints across the River Thames. 74 00:05:37,630 --> 00:05:42,570 The Thames Tideway Tunnel Project aims to intercept these worst offending CSOs, 75 00:05:42,710 --> 00:05:46,010 send them into our tunnels and our shafts down to Beckton Sewage Treatment 76 00:05:46,010 --> 00:05:49,950 Works. In essence, once the project is completed, we hope to reduce the amount 77 00:05:49,950 --> 00:05:53,630 of untreated sewage that is released into the River Thames every year by 78 00:05:53,630 --> 00:06:00,370 96%. But such an 79 00:06:00,370 --> 00:06:02,730 ambitious project is full of challenges. 80 00:06:05,390 --> 00:06:10,830 How do you prevent millions of tonnes of toxic sewage flooding the Thames? 81 00:06:11,390 --> 00:06:15,890 How do you tunnel beneath London's underground rail network and the river 82 00:06:15,890 --> 00:06:22,130 itself? How do you pump thousands of litres of sewage vertically to the 83 00:06:22,130 --> 00:06:23,130 treatment plant? 84 00:06:23,670 --> 00:06:28,810 And given how dense London is, how do you manoeuvre the enormous equipment 85 00:06:28,810 --> 00:06:30,330 through such limited space? 86 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,960 It will take some of London's top engineers to pull it off. 87 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,540 Behind me, we can see the drop shaft construction in the background. 88 00:06:47,580 --> 00:06:52,520 Engineer Josh Roy is overseeing one of the first stages of construction, the 89 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:53,520 drop shaft. 90 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:59,160 This is the viewing platform, which is the platform where the crane supervisor 91 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:01,740 or the banksman coordinates lifting into the shaft. 92 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,260 And effectively, it's the only position you can see down into the drop shaft 93 00:07:05,260 --> 00:07:06,260 during construction. 94 00:07:07,700 --> 00:07:12,180 The internal diameter of the drop shaft when it's complete will be 15 meters. 95 00:07:12,420 --> 00:07:16,920 And currently, we've excavated to approximately 12 meters below ground 96 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:21,360 And we are continuing to 32 meters below ground level in total depth. 97 00:07:23,660 --> 00:07:28,960 This is just one of the 24 shafts engineered to tackle the biggest sewage 98 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:30,340 overflows along the river. 99 00:07:34,020 --> 00:07:38,200 Crucially here, during a normal year, a number of overflow events occur, which 100 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,440 means that pollution obviously goes straight into the Thames. 101 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:45,120 So here we're providing a drop shaft, and in the future, a series of 102 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:49,160 interception chambers will take any overflows directly into the tunnel 103 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:50,160 than into the Thames. 104 00:07:53,740 --> 00:07:59,180 By connecting the existing sewage overflows to vertical shafts, engineers 105 00:07:59,180 --> 00:08:01,720 start to remedy the most problematic areas. 106 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:10,240 But buried underground and flooded with tons of sewage, much of the network will 107 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:12,000 be inaccessible for servicing. 108 00:08:12,460 --> 00:08:17,720 To ensure it functions maintenance -free for decades to come, engineers must 109 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:19,480 tackle a fundamental problem. 110 00:08:20,340 --> 00:08:25,880 At this site in particular, beyond a depth of four meters, we are well past 111 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:29,620 groundwater level, and therefore we can expect to have some kind of water 112 00:08:29,620 --> 00:08:30,780 ingress as we construct. 113 00:08:31,020 --> 00:08:34,380 and that's one of the biggest challenges on this site and other sites across the 114 00:08:34,380 --> 00:08:35,380 project in London. 115 00:08:36,940 --> 00:08:42,280 The shafts are reinforced with concrete, but over time they can be corroded by 116 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:44,480 the water outside and the sewage within. 117 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:50,960 Under the microscope, concrete is laced with tiny capillary channels. 118 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:56,120 Water and sewage can permeate these capillaries, causing irreparable damage. 119 00:09:01,190 --> 00:09:06,150 Engineering a network to withstand sustained attack from water and sewage 120 00:09:06,150 --> 00:09:07,370 of the biggest challenges. 121 00:09:09,450 --> 00:09:14,890 And buried so far underground, this project must be designed to last. 122 00:09:15,590 --> 00:09:21,190 To make it happen, engineers will need to draw inspiration from the pioneers of 123 00:09:21,190 --> 00:09:22,190 the past. 124 00:09:38,719 --> 00:09:43,540 Engineers in London are hard at work extending the city's underground sewer 125 00:09:43,540 --> 00:09:44,540 system. 126 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:49,600 But buried below the earth, regular maintenance will be a challenge. 127 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:54,980 And this super sewer is going to need to last for generations to come. 128 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,620 To find long -term solutions. 129 00:10:02,820 --> 00:10:07,500 Archaeologist Cassie Newland has traveled to the ancient city of Knathos 130 00:10:07,500 --> 00:10:11,860 Greek island of Crete to see a 4 ,000 -year -old Minoan marvel. 131 00:10:16,140 --> 00:10:20,280 This is Europe's oldest city, the London of its day. 132 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,220 This was home to up to 100 ,000 people. 133 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:30,300 But sustaining so many people in this landscape wasn't easy. 134 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,620 So the great challenge of a city like this is getting enough fresh water for 135 00:10:36,620 --> 00:10:37,499 people to drink. 136 00:10:37,500 --> 00:10:41,580 It's very hilly, it's very rocky, the weather is very seasonal, so you have 137 00:10:41,580 --> 00:10:45,320 great dry periods followed by torrential winter storms. 138 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:49,580 And all the fresh water has got to come from springs on the opposite side of the 139 00:10:49,580 --> 00:10:53,760 valley. Once it's in the city, the real challenge is moving it around to where 140 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:54,559 it's needed. 141 00:10:54,560 --> 00:10:57,780 Sometimes the water's going downhill, but sometimes you've got to pull it up. 142 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:06,680 The Minoans thrived here because they understood a basic principle of water. 143 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:08,460 always finds its own level. 144 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:16,600 By using a stream on the nearby hill, they were able to direct the water down 145 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:18,620 and up again across the city. 146 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:27,220 This allowed the Minoans to build networks not just for water, but also 147 00:11:27,220 --> 00:11:28,580 drainage and sewage. 148 00:11:29,580 --> 00:11:33,400 At the bottom of this hole are in -situ terracotta pipes. 149 00:11:33,740 --> 00:11:36,720 Now, the pipes are designed to bring the fresh water in for drinking. 150 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:41,620 They're a very special shape, sort of like a very long, thin cone. So the 151 00:11:41,620 --> 00:11:45,340 entrance at one end is slightly wider than the exit at the other. This allows 152 00:11:45,340 --> 00:11:49,680 them to fit together really snugly, excluding air and making sure that water 153 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:51,220 pressure is maintained within the system. 154 00:11:51,870 --> 00:11:54,790 Pericot is a fabulous material because it doesn't matter what you're putting 155 00:11:54,790 --> 00:11:58,730 through it, whether it's acid or alkali, it will remain unchanged for thousands 156 00:11:58,730 --> 00:11:59,730 of years. 157 00:11:59,810 --> 00:12:03,230 The pipes laid down here are as good today as they were when they were first 158 00:12:03,230 --> 00:12:04,230 laid. 159 00:12:05,810 --> 00:12:08,730 And the Minoans' networks were built to last. 160 00:12:11,130 --> 00:12:13,550 I'm standing on the oldest road in Europe. 161 00:12:14,110 --> 00:12:18,530 4 ,000 years ago, when engineers constructed this, they put in a huge 162 00:12:18,530 --> 00:12:22,500 drain. Take all the water from the palaces and the courts above it. The 163 00:12:22,500 --> 00:12:24,680 amazing thing is, it all still works. 164 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:28,600 All thanks to meticulous engineering. 165 00:12:29,780 --> 00:12:35,120 It's got this lovely sinuous line as the drain makes around the hill. And that's 166 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:38,460 for a very specific reason. It's all about controlling the flow of the water. 167 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,300 While you want it free -flowing so you can avoid blockages, you don't want it 168 00:12:42,300 --> 00:12:45,900 just shooting off down the hill too fast because that would erode the bottom of 169 00:12:45,900 --> 00:12:47,400 your drains and cause it to collapse. 170 00:12:47,660 --> 00:12:51,240 What we have here is very careful management of that flow rate. 171 00:12:51,460 --> 00:12:53,020 I mean, this is really very clever. 172 00:12:53,380 --> 00:12:56,720 And the system is still draining water from the city today. 173 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:00,900 This city -wide network is remarkable. 174 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:06,860 Hydraulic engineering began here, and it's the basis of everything we do 175 00:13:16,940 --> 00:13:22,060 For London's super sewer, engineers must ensure the buried network will remain 176 00:13:22,060 --> 00:13:24,120 as maintenance -free as Knossos. 177 00:13:25,940 --> 00:13:30,020 The sheer capacity of the shafts will help control any surges. 178 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:35,680 But the bigger problem is waterproofing. 179 00:13:36,860 --> 00:13:41,220 Existing methods can be challenging for such giant and complex structures. 180 00:13:45,420 --> 00:13:49,780 To apply a sheet membrane waterproofing system is quite labor intensive. 181 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:55,240 It requires access at a later stage along all sides of the shaft and at 182 00:13:55,380 --> 00:13:56,740 so it becomes a safety risk. 183 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,240 At the shaft, there's a revolutionary solution. 184 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:06,040 A chemical treatment is added directly to the concrete mix. 185 00:14:09,740 --> 00:14:14,320 Reacting to the water and cement in the mix, the chemicals grow into crystals. 186 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:15,860 filling the capillaries. 187 00:14:16,220 --> 00:14:21,080 As the crystals duplicate, they create a network that stops water from passing 188 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:25,920 through. The impermeable barrier will hopefully be as effective as the 189 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:27,860 terracotta used by the Minoans. 190 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:36,320 And because it simultaneously strengthens and waterproof, 191 00:14:36,740 --> 00:14:40,660 this innovative treatment will protect the site for years to come. 192 00:14:41,550 --> 00:14:46,210 Okay, so we're now batching the concrete mixture, but just behind me you can see 193 00:14:46,210 --> 00:14:51,730 two silos that are both batching at the same time into one pump. The material 194 00:14:51,730 --> 00:14:57,110 goes into the hopper behind me, and the pump then pumps the concrete mixture in 195 00:14:57,110 --> 00:15:01,470 this line all the way to the drop shaft for use in the spray concrete lining 196 00:15:01,470 --> 00:15:02,470 construction. 197 00:15:05,230 --> 00:15:08,130 The exposed ground in the shaft is unstable. 198 00:15:08,700 --> 00:15:10,860 so the mix is designed to set quickly. 199 00:15:11,540 --> 00:15:16,520 With excavation temporarily halted and emergency breathing apparatus on hand, 200 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:17,920 it's safe to enter. 201 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:24,140 Each four -foot vertical lining requires 130 tons of the mix. 202 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:33,320 But there's a risk the mixture will set before the work is completed. 203 00:15:39,660 --> 00:15:43,280 The solution is an ultra -high -pressure pneumatic hose. 204 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:47,040 Don't cross the red and white line, basically. 205 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:48,480 Simple as that. 206 00:15:49,620 --> 00:15:55,840 The mixture is propelled at 4 ,000 psi, enough pressure to cause serious harm. 207 00:15:56,580 --> 00:15:58,400 So here we are at the bottom of the drop chart. 208 00:15:58,900 --> 00:16:03,060 We've tested the mixture at the surface, and now the concrete mixture is being 209 00:16:03,060 --> 00:16:07,920 applied as a spray concrete lining, incorporating the crystallizing agent as 210 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:09,000 waterproofing measure. 211 00:16:09,900 --> 00:16:14,520 With the pump working at full power, it takes just minutes to protect the 212 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:15,520 section. 213 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,680 It's great to see the spray concrete lining application in person. 214 00:16:19,980 --> 00:16:22,360 It's really quite a challenge that has been overcome here. 215 00:16:22,620 --> 00:16:27,340 With its longevity assured, the super sewer network can start to grow. 216 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:36,960 But building miles of tunnel directly under the Thames will be a massive 217 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:38,220 engineering challenge. 218 00:16:39,310 --> 00:16:41,210 Just beyond me is the earth. 219 00:16:41,690 --> 00:16:42,730 Our purpose is the river. 220 00:16:43,330 --> 00:16:45,510 This is a huge undertaking in the center of London. 221 00:16:46,610 --> 00:16:51,790 And experts will have to bring in some cutting -edge technology to get the job 222 00:16:51,790 --> 00:16:52,790 done. 223 00:17:10,860 --> 00:17:16,300 Extending above and below the River Thames, London's super sewer is one of 224 00:17:16,300 --> 00:17:18,540 biggest engineering projects in Europe. 225 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:25,119 At over 20 sites across London, engineers are digging tunnels in 226 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:30,440 directions, creating a network nearly 20 miles long to keep up with the city's 227 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:31,540 growing population. 228 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:38,920 But tunneling below one of the biggest, busiest and oldest cities in the world 229 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:40,960 comes with a number of challenges. 230 00:17:41,540 --> 00:17:43,820 Just finding space for a start. 231 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:46,720 Here we're surrounded by listed buildings, 232 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:50,000 architectural gems and historic monuments. 233 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:51,980 And that's just above the surface. 234 00:17:52,260 --> 00:17:55,100 When you get below ground, it's even more complicated. 235 00:17:55,460 --> 00:17:59,460 You've got all your existing infrastructure. So that's the Victorian 236 00:17:59,460 --> 00:18:02,040 system. It's your water main, your gas main. 237 00:18:02,430 --> 00:18:05,010 It's your electric cables and your telecoms cables. 238 00:18:05,250 --> 00:18:08,190 It's the tube and all the pedestrian walkways that go with that. 239 00:18:08,590 --> 00:18:14,290 And that horrible tangled network is set inside 2 ,000 years' worth of 240 00:18:14,290 --> 00:18:18,370 archaeology. And then there's the river, without which none of this will be 241 00:18:18,370 --> 00:18:22,790 here, but which makes the whole of the subsoil completely waterlogged and 242 00:18:22,790 --> 00:18:23,810 difficult to dig through. 243 00:18:24,190 --> 00:18:26,590 And they're not just digging any old tunnels. 244 00:18:26,930 --> 00:18:30,650 These tunnels are big, big enough to drive a double -decker bus through. 245 00:18:33,030 --> 00:18:37,590 Engineers need a machine that can work under the most difficult circumstances. 246 00:18:38,130 --> 00:18:43,170 With the weight of London above them, the team is facing a seemingly 247 00:18:43,170 --> 00:18:44,170 challenge. 248 00:18:44,730 --> 00:18:48,890 The solution can be found below the battlefields of the past. 249 00:18:59,650 --> 00:19:05,480 On England's south coast, Engineer Katie Tom is searching for a location that's 250 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:06,620 been all but forgotten. 251 00:19:09,100 --> 00:19:10,380 I'm really excited. 252 00:19:11,220 --> 00:19:15,900 This place is normally closed to public, but I've got special permission to have 253 00:19:15,900 --> 00:19:19,140 a look inside, so I can't wait to see what's in there. 254 00:19:22,580 --> 00:19:29,420 Extending almost 600 feet into the chalky earth, this 255 00:19:29,420 --> 00:19:31,120 is the Windchelsea Tunnel. 256 00:19:34,990 --> 00:19:40,790 Lots of graffiti on the walls down here, lots of initials, which is quite nice 257 00:19:40,790 --> 00:19:42,130 to see the history of it, really. 258 00:19:43,470 --> 00:19:47,210 The tunnel's origins stretch back to World War I. 259 00:19:51,750 --> 00:19:57,350 In the trenches of Flanders, Allied forces devised a plan to dig tunnels 260 00:19:57,350 --> 00:19:58,350 enemy lines. 261 00:19:58,810 --> 00:20:03,430 Once dug, huge caches of explosives could be detonated inside them. 262 00:20:04,420 --> 00:20:09,700 The Windchelsea tunnel was the secret test site for this plan and was dug by 263 00:20:09,700 --> 00:20:11,240 extraordinary new machine. 264 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:17,400 So you can look at the shape of the tunnel and the length of it. 265 00:20:17,780 --> 00:20:22,780 It's almost a perfect circle. I can track the movement of what the machine 266 00:20:22,780 --> 00:20:23,780 have been doing. 267 00:20:24,260 --> 00:20:26,900 all the way around to here to take out the material. 268 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:31,520 It must have been a big beast of a kit for its time, really quite 269 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:35,200 so it's really exciting to learn about it. 270 00:20:35,900 --> 00:20:40,880 The mysterious machine used here could hold the key for London's super sewer. 271 00:20:45,540 --> 00:20:50,320 And Katie has managed to track down the only example left in existence. 272 00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:58,760 I have exclusive access to the Science Museum group collection. 273 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:00,640 No one is allowed back here. 274 00:21:01,060 --> 00:21:04,660 But I've been told there's a really exciting piece of important engineering 275 00:21:04,660 --> 00:21:07,880 history somewhere in this building, and I can't wait to find it. 276 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:13,940 It's like an Aladdin cave. 277 00:21:18,900 --> 00:21:20,020 And here it is. 278 00:21:26,060 --> 00:21:30,460 The Whitaker Tunnel Boring Machine was the brainchild of English engineer 279 00:21:30,460 --> 00:21:31,620 Douglas Whitaker. 280 00:21:35,820 --> 00:21:38,600 So this is the cutting base, as you can see here. 281 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:46,180 You've got the buckets on the outside. There's the cutters here, which would 282 00:21:46,180 --> 00:21:47,500 have excavated the material. 283 00:21:48,980 --> 00:21:51,900 The buckets, as it moved, would have collected it. 284 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,360 But Whitaker's amazing machine got off to a rough start. 285 00:22:00,660 --> 00:22:06,080 The ambitious plan in the World War I trenches failed, and his machine was 286 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:08,200 buried under the battlefield in France. 287 00:22:08,820 --> 00:22:13,300 This example was part of a cancelled attempt to dig a channel tunnel between 288 00:22:13,300 --> 00:22:15,640 England and France in 1921. 289 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,820 This one is a little bit larger than the one that would have cut the Winchelpey 290 00:22:20,820 --> 00:22:24,640 Tunnel. But the size of the buckets is similar, and that would have given the 291 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:28,760 uniformity of the markings that we saw in the chalk, caused by this large 292 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,820 movement that would have helped the machine advance out of the tunnel. 293 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:38,640 But despite its failings, Whitaker's extraordinary tunneling beast did 294 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:39,640 vital innovation. 295 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:43,820 Rock contains cracks, faults, and folds. 296 00:22:44,020 --> 00:22:47,900 When tunneling underground, it's crucial to keep the pressure balanced. 297 00:22:48,220 --> 00:22:53,620 If the excavated material or spoil is removed too quickly, the sudden change 298 00:22:53,620 --> 00:22:55,200 pressure can cause a collapse. 299 00:22:56,260 --> 00:22:58,000 Whitaker had the solution. 300 00:22:59,340 --> 00:23:04,180 What Whitaker came up with is this corkscrew conveyor which takes the 301 00:23:04,180 --> 00:23:07,400 collected from the bucket all the way down the length of the machine. 302 00:23:07,860 --> 00:23:10,380 This is a very simple mechanism, really. 303 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:17,450 The material goes in as it's being excavated and then as it moves... around 304 00:23:17,450 --> 00:23:24,150 material is taken along the whole end of the machine and then is collected 305 00:23:24,150 --> 00:23:25,190 right at the end. 306 00:23:25,470 --> 00:23:26,470 It's simple. 307 00:23:28,770 --> 00:23:32,570 Whitaker's corkscrew technique meant that he could remove just the right 308 00:23:32,570 --> 00:23:34,610 of spoil at any given time. 309 00:23:35,710 --> 00:23:40,750 The corkscrew and the cutting mechanism were calibrated at the same rate to make 310 00:23:40,750 --> 00:23:43,810 sure that that was balanced correctly to stop the tunnel from caving in. 311 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:51,100 Whitaker's Tunnel Boring Machine, or TBM, was the forerunner of a technique 312 00:23:51,100 --> 00:23:52,800 used all over the world. 313 00:23:55,880 --> 00:24:00,800 Whitaker's combination of the rotating cutting base and the screw conveyor 314 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:05,120 really has become the blueprint of all future TBMs. This is such an amazing 315 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:06,120 piece of engineering. 316 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:13,980 And today, engineers will need to use the principles put in place by Whitaker 317 00:24:13,980 --> 00:24:18,260 dig the massive tunnel network that will make up London's super sewer. 318 00:24:35,660 --> 00:24:41,060 Engineers in London are hard at work on a new super sewer to accommodate the 319 00:24:41,060 --> 00:24:43,280 city's rapidly growing population. 320 00:24:47,300 --> 00:24:53,020 Using principles originally engineered by Douglas Whittaker, seven giant tunnel 321 00:24:53,020 --> 00:24:56,920 boring machines, or TBNs, will dig the tunnel network. 322 00:24:58,860 --> 00:25:02,980 Some of these machines have a diameter the length of a London bus. 323 00:25:03,230 --> 00:25:06,050 and weigh up to nearly 1 ,500 tons. 324 00:25:07,890 --> 00:25:09,150 And here she is. 325 00:25:09,810 --> 00:25:13,350 Each TVM has been specially engineered for the job. 326 00:25:14,110 --> 00:25:18,050 This is Rachel, our tunnel boring machine, 8 .1 meters in diameter. 327 00:25:18,770 --> 00:25:23,890 With all the backup gantries, it's going to be 147 meters long when complete. 328 00:25:25,090 --> 00:25:29,710 Engineer Mark Shepard is doing a final inspection of this machine's cutting 329 00:25:29,710 --> 00:25:31,490 before it's deployed under London. 330 00:25:32,430 --> 00:25:34,550 So this is the cutting wheel of the machine. 331 00:25:34,790 --> 00:25:36,770 It's around 100 tons on its own. 332 00:25:37,130 --> 00:25:40,990 This will do all the cutting, so we're mining through mostly London clay in 333 00:25:40,990 --> 00:25:42,050 section of Tideway. 334 00:25:43,330 --> 00:25:48,610 This is an earth pressure balance machine, so this cutter head will be 335 00:25:48,610 --> 00:25:50,490 mined clay at pressure. 336 00:25:50,750 --> 00:25:54,150 The red screw at the bottom there will rotate, and that will take the muck out. 337 00:25:54,890 --> 00:25:59,630 Like the Whitaker machine, the screw helps maintain pressure at the tunnel 338 00:26:00,030 --> 00:26:02,110 It runs right through the heart of the machine. 339 00:26:02,330 --> 00:26:06,690 And because it's so long, that can keep a plug of material as we're excavating 340 00:26:06,690 --> 00:26:08,470 and hold the pressure in the face. 341 00:26:08,890 --> 00:26:13,290 That's rotating full of material, and we can control the speed of that. 342 00:26:13,490 --> 00:26:17,230 We have a guillotine door as well on the end so we know exactly how much muck is 343 00:26:17,230 --> 00:26:19,770 coming out. We're not taking too much out. 344 00:26:20,950 --> 00:26:24,570 Because there are so many underground obstacles to work around. 345 00:26:24,970 --> 00:26:30,370 The TBMs will excavate deeper than all existing infrastructure directly under 346 00:26:30,370 --> 00:26:31,370 the river. 347 00:26:35,030 --> 00:26:38,730 Lowering them down the drop shafts is a precision operation. 348 00:26:41,130 --> 00:26:47,310 But once in position, they'll advance 26 feet per day to connect all the shafts 349 00:26:47,310 --> 00:26:48,310 together. 350 00:26:49,850 --> 00:26:51,990 The project is just enormous. 351 00:26:53,870 --> 00:26:58,830 Site manager Paul Hallows is venturing down to one of the biggest tunnels on 352 00:26:58,830 --> 00:27:02,190 project to check out one of the mega machines in action. 353 00:27:03,890 --> 00:27:05,450 It's absolutely enormous. 354 00:27:07,830 --> 00:27:09,910 So, we're at the front of the TBM now. 355 00:27:10,390 --> 00:27:13,450 Just beyond me, you can see, that's the bulkhead. 356 00:27:13,650 --> 00:27:17,130 Just beyond the furthest away part, you can see the TBM. 357 00:27:17,410 --> 00:27:20,490 That's where the cutting disc is, which is turning about 2 RPM. 358 00:27:21,130 --> 00:27:22,490 Beyond that is the earth. 359 00:27:22,940 --> 00:27:24,020 Our purpose is the river. 360 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:25,720 We're at the business end. 361 00:27:26,180 --> 00:27:30,660 All the spoil in front of the TBM, that's being cut away, then dropping 362 00:27:30,660 --> 00:27:34,380 into the invert in the front of the machine there, coming up this screw 363 00:27:34,380 --> 00:27:35,380 here, 364 00:27:35,740 --> 00:27:39,940 dropping down into the conveyor, then it's away all the way down the tunnel on 365 00:27:39,940 --> 00:27:43,520 conveyor belt, up to the surface, and gone from sight. 366 00:27:43,980 --> 00:27:49,140 As the cutter moves forward, Paul and the team build giant concrete rings to 367 00:27:49,140 --> 00:27:50,280 support the new tunnel. 368 00:27:51,980 --> 00:27:55,820 The further the TBMs travel, the more segments are needed. 369 00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:01,900 Up at the surface, a seemingly endless supply keeps the TBMs fed. 370 00:28:03,220 --> 00:28:08,120 Since London streets can be difficult to navigate, the segments are transported 371 00:28:08,120 --> 00:28:09,740 by barge along the Thames. 372 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:16,900 Once safely on site, they're craned down the shaft to join the TBM's automated 373 00:28:16,900 --> 00:28:17,900 production line. 374 00:28:19,260 --> 00:28:21,840 Each tunnel ring gets brought into the tunnel by the loco. 375 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:23,700 It's put on the storage cassette. 376 00:28:24,020 --> 00:28:27,420 From the storage cassette, it's picked up, carried up to the front. 377 00:28:31,460 --> 00:28:37,760 At the front of the machine, the segments are picked up by suction, 378 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:41,900 where they need to be, and secured in place. 379 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,840 We excavate in 1 .8 -meter increments. 380 00:28:47,370 --> 00:28:52,150 So every time we've advanced 1 .8 meters, we retract the rams, we build 381 00:28:52,150 --> 00:28:53,150 these concrete rings. 382 00:28:53,350 --> 00:28:56,030 These concrete rings, 1 .8 meters wide. 383 00:28:56,710 --> 00:28:59,110 There's eight of these sections make a complete ring. 384 00:28:59,650 --> 00:29:01,490 There's over 40 tons per ring. 385 00:29:01,810 --> 00:29:06,490 Once a complete ring is then built, then we can excavate, start again, start 386 00:29:06,490 --> 00:29:07,550 another 1 .8 meters. 387 00:29:07,910 --> 00:29:11,530 This is what we're going to be doing for the next 4 ,500 meters. 388 00:29:16,430 --> 00:29:21,270 The giant tunnel boring machines are the solution to the London super sewers 389 00:29:21,270 --> 00:29:23,770 seemingly impossible engineering challenge. 390 00:29:24,130 --> 00:29:28,630 They can quickly and accurately thread their way through London's web of 391 00:29:28,630 --> 00:29:29,790 underground obstacles. 392 00:29:30,210 --> 00:29:34,150 And it's all thanks to tunneling pioneers like Douglas Whitaker. 393 00:29:35,330 --> 00:29:38,670 The engineers of the past, you can only be impressed by them. 394 00:29:39,290 --> 00:29:41,850 Everything we're doing now is as mechanized as possible. 395 00:29:42,210 --> 00:29:45,410 Now we're just concrete lines, rapid progress. 396 00:29:46,370 --> 00:29:48,830 Much better environments to work in, but hats off to them. 397 00:29:49,230 --> 00:29:50,410 I wouldn't have liked to have been around then. 398 00:29:55,770 --> 00:30:00,230 But now the super sewer team faces perhaps their greatest challenge. 399 00:30:00,710 --> 00:30:04,870 So this is the lowest point in London. So this project is unique in terms of 400 00:30:04,870 --> 00:30:10,510 depth. They'll need to invent a way to remove the sewage from deep below 401 00:30:31,050 --> 00:30:35,190 The super sewer is one of the most ambitious networks in the world. 402 00:30:35,730 --> 00:30:41,470 By extending London's old sewer sit, engineers are planning to prevent 403 00:30:41,470 --> 00:30:44,130 of tons of sewage from flooding the Thames. 404 00:30:44,410 --> 00:30:49,210 The Lee Tunnel pump shaft in East London is the final stage of the tunnel 405 00:30:49,210 --> 00:30:56,150 network. At nearly 125 feet wide and 288 feet below ground, it's 406 00:30:56,150 --> 00:30:57,690 the network's lowest point. 407 00:30:57,950 --> 00:31:00,630 and is the deepest shaft in all of London. 408 00:31:02,210 --> 00:31:06,490 The shaft is so deep, it could swallow a big bend here. And there's a really 409 00:31:06,490 --> 00:31:07,490 good reason for that. 410 00:31:07,530 --> 00:31:11,330 It's about creating the perfect self -cleaning velocity. 411 00:31:11,710 --> 00:31:13,830 And you do that by controlling gradients. 412 00:31:14,310 --> 00:31:16,350 Too shallow, nothing goes anywhere. 413 00:31:16,790 --> 00:31:21,450 Too steep, and the liquids separate out from the solids, leaving them behind to 414 00:31:21,450 --> 00:31:23,250 accumulate and form blockages. 415 00:31:28,170 --> 00:31:30,850 So we're now on the west side of the pumping station. 416 00:31:31,150 --> 00:31:36,510 At the pumping station, engineer Jad Budiya is venturing all the way down to 417 00:31:36,510 --> 00:31:37,510 bottom. 418 00:31:38,310 --> 00:31:42,450 So this is the lowest point in London that you can physically and safely get 419 00:31:43,530 --> 00:31:48,330 From here, accumulated sewage must now be pumped to the treatment plant for 420 00:31:48,330 --> 00:31:54,330 processing. But pumping tons of semi -solid material almost 300 feet 421 00:31:54,330 --> 00:31:56,390 upwards is a huge challenge. 422 00:31:57,550 --> 00:32:02,550 To find a solution, engineers looked to another region that was once drowning in 423 00:32:02,550 --> 00:32:03,610 problems of their own. 424 00:32:07,930 --> 00:32:13,810 The Friesland region in Holland is a 2 ,100 square mile area of flat land 425 00:32:13,810 --> 00:32:15,150 bordering the North Sea. 426 00:32:16,350 --> 00:32:21,130 Its history is punctuated with fierce storms and devastating floods. 427 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:27,820 Marine engineer Keith Storm has seen the damaging effects on the land. 428 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:33,560 Friesland is one of the wettest areas, and that's because north, west, and 429 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,680 south, we are surrounded by water. 430 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:38,000 So that was always our biggest problem. 431 00:32:38,620 --> 00:32:40,220 So with a couple of days of storms, 432 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:45,040 the enormous amounts of water inland, which could be millions and millions of 433 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:49,840 cubic meters, would take months to get rid of. So you really need a significant 434 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:51,640 engineering solution to do that. 435 00:32:53,290 --> 00:32:58,590 Saving this land seemed an impossible challenge, but one Dutch engineer 436 00:32:58,590 --> 00:32:59,630 he had the answer. 437 00:33:04,470 --> 00:33:09,950 In the early 20th century, Dirk Frederick Wouda perfected the pump 438 00:33:12,690 --> 00:33:15,690 And in 1920, he built this. 439 00:33:17,910 --> 00:33:20,050 The Wouda Pumping Station. 440 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:27,160 At the time, the largest and most technologically advanced steam pumping 441 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:28,160 in the world. 442 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:35,060 And it could hold the key to the super sewers problem. 443 00:33:36,060 --> 00:33:40,280 I love coming in here, and it's a beautiful time to see the machine 444 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,160 smoothly and steadily. 445 00:33:44,020 --> 00:33:47,040 The heart of the station was the centrifugal pump. 446 00:33:51,490 --> 00:33:56,710 Inside a centrifugal pump, a shaft -driven blade called an impeller 447 00:33:57,250 --> 00:34:02,150 As the impeller accelerates, fluid is sucked through the inlet port at the 448 00:34:02,150 --> 00:34:06,730 center. The velocity propels the fluid to the edges and out through the 449 00:34:06,730 --> 00:34:08,090 discharge port at the top. 450 00:34:11,510 --> 00:34:15,830 Well, as a marine engineer, on board a ship, we use also centrifugal pumps. 451 00:34:16,090 --> 00:34:18,270 But I've never seen a size like this. 452 00:34:20,330 --> 00:34:24,030 The giant pumps are driven by enormous steam engines. 453 00:34:24,770 --> 00:34:29,670 And these steam engines were originally fed by eight large boilers. 454 00:34:30,350 --> 00:34:35,170 So these massive pumps require a lot of horsepower, and that's why we require 455 00:34:35,170 --> 00:34:39,690 each engine to have 500 horsepower, which is equivalent to a beautiful 456 00:34:39,690 --> 00:34:40,690 car. 457 00:34:43,429 --> 00:34:47,989 Just to give you an idea of the capacity of all the eight pumps, if you fill up 458 00:34:47,989 --> 00:34:50,800 this whole building... up to the rooftop with water. 459 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,159 And all the pumps are running like now on a steady speed. 460 00:34:54,500 --> 00:34:57,720 The whole building is empty in two minutes only. 461 00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:04,820 The ability to shift such volumes so quickly is thanks to the gravity 462 00:35:04,820 --> 00:35:06,580 engineering inside the pump. 463 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:11,780 The first thing we will do is build the impeller. 464 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:18,740 And we do it very simply by attaching the tube onto the pencil. 465 00:35:19,190 --> 00:35:20,190 Like this. 466 00:35:20,670 --> 00:35:21,670 Cutting the envelope. 467 00:35:24,050 --> 00:35:28,750 And then attach the impeller into the drill. 468 00:35:29,110 --> 00:35:31,510 So now my impeller is ready. 469 00:35:31,810 --> 00:35:34,890 Now we are going to prime the pump as we do in the main unit. 470 00:35:35,670 --> 00:35:39,010 To prime the pump, water is sucked into the tube. 471 00:35:40,510 --> 00:35:42,250 The pump is now primed. 472 00:35:42,550 --> 00:35:48,490 And if we start rotating... Oh, there he goes. 473 00:35:49,870 --> 00:35:54,210 The centrifugal furnace has overcome the gravity, and the pump has started 474 00:35:54,210 --> 00:35:56,330 pumping and getting very wet. 475 00:35:59,890 --> 00:36:05,290 The brilliant simplicity of this ingenious system allows WUTA to continue 476 00:36:05,290 --> 00:36:08,590 pumping vast amounts of water, even today. 477 00:36:11,970 --> 00:36:16,450 So even 100 years old, these pumps are still doing their job. 478 00:36:16,730 --> 00:36:19,850 and are very important to keep the country dry. 479 00:36:21,610 --> 00:36:27,310 And in order to keep their super sewer running smoothly, engineers in London 480 00:36:27,310 --> 00:36:31,870 will have to adopt some of these same techniques with the modern -day twist. 481 00:36:51,050 --> 00:36:57,890 Deep below the ground in London, engineers have installed the solution to 482 00:36:57,890 --> 00:36:59,570 super sewers pump problem. 483 00:37:03,690 --> 00:37:07,110 Dwarfing even those at the Wouda pumping station in Holland. 484 00:37:07,410 --> 00:37:13,030 These centrifugal pumps are so large and so powerful, they must be encased 485 00:37:13,030 --> 00:37:15,510 within concrete 13 feet thick. 486 00:37:16,270 --> 00:37:19,770 The technology of centrifugal pumps has been around for a long time. 487 00:37:20,250 --> 00:37:23,330 The only difference with the lead tunnel project is that the size of them are 488 00:37:23,330 --> 00:37:26,090 unique in the sense that they've never been made to this size. 489 00:37:26,530 --> 00:37:30,590 The pumps are really big here. They're effectively two stories high. 490 00:37:32,930 --> 00:37:37,690 Weighing over 50 tons with a 7 .2 -foot diameter impeller, 491 00:37:38,650 --> 00:37:43,990 one pump can move the equivalent of 3 ,000 liters per second, and there are 492 00:37:43,990 --> 00:37:44,990 pumps. 493 00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:52,080 The centrifugal pump can actually cope with a lot of solid material, and it 494 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:55,180 would be very difficult to actually take this up to ground level without pumping 495 00:37:55,180 --> 00:37:56,740 and using the pumps that we have. 496 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:02,420 No other pumps would have the capacity or the duty to pump out the lead tunnel. 497 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:08,600 Like Wouda in Holland, the pumps need a lot of energy to drive them. 498 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:13,900 On the next floor are six motors weighing more than 30 tons each. 499 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:23,200 These motors generate 3 .5 megawatts, so very large power usage for the motors 500 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:24,200 to drive the pumps. 501 00:38:24,340 --> 00:38:29,240 These motors have a central shaft, which then is connected to the impeller 502 00:38:29,240 --> 00:38:30,240 itself. 503 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:35,880 These giant motors are power -hungry, and part of the solution to this problem 504 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:36,960 is above ground. 505 00:38:38,660 --> 00:38:43,500 This is Becton Sewage Treatment Works, the largest plant in Europe. 506 00:38:49,710 --> 00:38:54,430 We're standing on the flow collection chamber where the six pumps pump up it 507 00:38:54,430 --> 00:38:58,950 this level. They then transfer the flows through steel pipes up to the inlet 508 00:38:58,950 --> 00:39:01,390 works for distribution into the sewage room it works. 509 00:39:03,050 --> 00:39:08,290 At the sewage works, the wastewater settles in giant sedimentation tanks 510 00:39:08,290 --> 00:39:12,410 bacteria breaks down and removes impurities, including ammonia. 511 00:39:13,290 --> 00:39:18,590 The process releases natural gas, some of which can be recycled for energy 512 00:39:18,590 --> 00:39:20,130 production across the site. 513 00:39:22,070 --> 00:39:28,510 With the pumps running at full capacity, Becton processes 2 .3 billion liters of 514 00:39:28,510 --> 00:39:29,730 wastewater each day. 515 00:39:30,850 --> 00:39:33,670 Enough to fill Wembley Stadium twice. 516 00:39:35,290 --> 00:39:39,790 And all this cleaned wastewater is returned safely to the Thames. 517 00:39:41,290 --> 00:39:44,890 It was a brilliant experience to see the pumps operating for the first time 518 00:39:44,890 --> 00:39:45,930 three years ago. 519 00:39:46,230 --> 00:39:48,590 So it's a great feeling working to clean up the River Thames. 520 00:39:49,290 --> 00:39:50,650 And I feel proud. 521 00:39:59,910 --> 00:40:05,610 Since its inception in 2010, the Super Tour has grown 30 kilometers from west 522 00:40:05,610 --> 00:40:06,610 east London. 523 00:40:08,010 --> 00:40:12,930 This megaproject is one of the biggest infrastructure works in Europe, 524 00:40:12,930 --> 00:40:17,630 six of the biggest waste water pumps ever used in Britain and the biggest and 525 00:40:17,630 --> 00:40:19,410 deepest shaft ever sunk in London. 526 00:40:19,710 --> 00:40:25,090 It has a storage capacity of 600 Olympic swimming pools worth of fluid. 527 00:40:26,410 --> 00:40:31,890 By the time it's completed in 2024 and the 34 worst polluting overflows are 528 00:40:31,890 --> 00:40:36,130 collected, pollution in the temps should be reduced by up to 97%. 529 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:49,260 By connecting the most polluting CSOs to 24 new shafts, the super sewer will 530 00:40:49,260 --> 00:40:52,220 revolutionize the existing Victorian network. 531 00:40:53,060 --> 00:40:57,660 Millions of tons of sewage will be carried along nearly 20 miles of 532 00:40:57,980 --> 00:41:02,760 ending at London's deepest shaft, 288 feet below ground. 533 00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:07,540 After being pumped up to the largest treatment works in Europe, billions of 534 00:41:07,540 --> 00:41:10,780 liters of safe wastewater can be returned to the Thames. 535 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:19,940 The new super sewer has pushed the boundaries of construction. 536 00:41:21,100 --> 00:41:25,140 The feeling now is when we come into the tunnel, both myself and all our team, 537 00:41:25,340 --> 00:41:26,900 immensely proud of where we've got to. 538 00:41:27,260 --> 00:41:29,380 It's a very empowering position to be in. 539 00:41:35,240 --> 00:41:41,480 By drawing on the innovators of the past and conquering the many challenges, the 540 00:41:41,480 --> 00:41:45,020 project will improve the lives of 9 million Londoners. 541 00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:50,600 I want to have an impact on the London area, the local residents, and being a 542 00:41:50,600 --> 00:41:53,840 Londoner myself, I have a clear passion for making sure this project is a 543 00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:54,840 successful one. 544 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:58,260 And its success will be far -reaching. 545 00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:04,440 The new super sewer will serve this city for the next century and beyond. 546 00:42:04,780 --> 00:42:07,780 It will reconnect the people of London with their river. 547 00:42:08,340 --> 00:42:13,160 The success of the project will stand as testimony for the ingenuity of today's 548 00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:14,160 engineers. 549 00:42:18,510 --> 00:42:23,790 The Super Sewer team has succeeded in making the impossible possible. 550 00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:28,390 Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0 52091

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