Matthew was dropped 49 meters below the streets of London to see the latest progress on London’s new Super Sewer.

London’s Victorian sewer system is 150 years old and no longer fit for purpose. As a result, an average 20 million tonnes of untreated sewage is discharged into the River Thames each year. The Thames Tideway tunnel aims to fix this by increasing capacity and preventing the overflows. 

As a supporter of the project since its early days, Matthew visited the Chelsea Embankment Foreshore site, opposite the Royal Hospital Chelsea. This is just one of the many sites along the 25km tunnel which stretches from Acton in the West to Stratford in the East.

Matthew was able to see the completed tunnel which will intercept, store and transfer sewage waste away from the River Thames. The tunnel will have the capacity of 1.6m cubic meters – as much as 600 Olympic sized swimming pools – and is as wide as 3 double decker buses.

As well as benefitting the environment, Tideway has provided an economic boost creating thousands of skilled jobs and hundreds of apprenticeships.

Matthew said: “I was delighted to have another opportunity to visit the Tideway Tunnel after closely following the project for some years now.

“It really is a feat of engineering which will benefit all Londoners. As the population of our city grows, the sewer system will have to catch up.

“The Tideway Tunnel will mean a cleaner, greener London and I cannot wait to see it in operation.”