Today, on the tenth anniversary of the inauguration of the 80km London Ring Main project, Thames Water has announced plans for a further 12km of tunnels to extend the sustem.
The £150M (US$276M) scheme that has been proposed would see two feeder tunnels, each between 5 to 6km long. One of the tunnels would serve North London and has a target completion of 2009. The second tunnel follows a route south of the river linking into the existing ring main in Brixton. This tunnel is hoped to be completed by 2010.
The original ring main loop was driven in tunnels averaging 2.5 metres diameter. Funding for the extension is due to be finalised as part of the water industry price review that will set bills from 2005 – 2010.
