A new electricity cable tunnel in south London is under construction with the aim of renewing and improving power infrastructure to ensure the continuation of a safe and secure supply to the UK capital.
London electricity tunnel Photograph: ianVisits
The 32.5 km (20.2 mile) tunnel will run from Wimbledon, in southwest London, to Crayford, in the southeast. Work is scheduled to begin in March 2020 and will last for around eight years.
Housing in the region of 200 km of electricity transmission high voltage cables, the £1-billion (€1.18-billion) project will cross 15 train lines and two rivers.
The new cables will replace three existing circuits that currently run beneath London’s roads. The project has been developed in way that will minimise disruption for Londoners, eliminating the need to dig up the existing cables which are now more than 50-years-old and reaching the end of their life.
The new cable tunnels are part of National Grid’s investment to ensure a continued safe and secure supply of electricity to the capital.
In London, most electricity is transmitted through underground cables. These are traditionally located just beneath the road surface and work to maintain them is usually carried out in the road.
The housing of electrical cables in tunnels below the surface brings a number of advantages over traditional methods. Disruption caused during the initial construction is reduced significantly as the bulk of the work happens underground. Also, repair and maintenance can be carried out with similar minimal disruption.
This new project is called London Power Tunnels 2 (LPT2) and follows the original London Power Tunnels project (LPT1), a seven year £1-billion scheme to rewire the capital. LPT1 involved building 32 km of tunnels and two new substations.
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