Skip to main content

Pumping aids tunnel improvement work

In the UK, the busy Dartford Tunnel has benefited from the use of powerful pumping technology during improvements intended to boost traffic flow. Pump hire specialist, Sykes Pumps, helped by providing a pumping system, so as to enable piling for the conversion programme to a fully-electronic payment infrastructure.
July 28, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
RSSIn the UK, the busy Dartford Tunnel has benefited from the use of powerful pumping technology during improvements intended to boost traffic flow. Pump hire specialist, 8165 Sykes Pumps, helped by providing a pumping system, so as to enable piling for the conversion programme to a fully-electronic payment infrastructure.

Providing a route across the River Thames linking Dartford in Kent with Thurrock in Essex, the Dartford Crossing forms part of the M25 Motorway and comprises two tunnels and a bridge. High traffic volumes have led to increased congestion at the toll booths over the past few years, leading to the 2309 Highways Agency’s decision to introduce a fully-electronic payment system, which requires remote payment online, by phone, via a payzone retail outlet, or by post.

The upgrade to the payment system necessitated significant changes to the infrastructure at the entrance to each of the tunnels and contractor, Jackson Civil Engineering, needed to carry out piling works to install new traffic management barriers. As the site is so close to the river, Jackson anticipated rising water when each pile was removed and brought in Sykes pumps to specify a pumping system that would remove any excess water prior to the concrete pour.

Sykes Pumps provided two GP 100M diesel pumps along with hoses and a settlement tank to create a flexible water attenuation system. The specified system disposed of low levels of nuisance water at the piles, using a duty pump.  Where piling work saw larger volumes of water, the standby pump was deployed and the water was transported 400m via hoses to the settlement tank, where sediment was removed before the water was released into the sewer system.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Tecnoidea’s high-beam design eases filter changes
    April 17, 2013
    Tecnoidea has introduced a plate press filtration plant with high-beam design, which is capable of working at pressures up to 16bar and said to speed the location of and replacement of breached filters. The modular design can have up to 100 pairs of filters to cope with flows up to 9,000lit/min and each pair has an individual drain, making it easier to locate breached filters. For ease and speed of replacing breached filter material, the high-beam design incorporates a handling system to remove the relevant
  • Advances in road markings
    March 16, 2012
    Recent months have seen many major and vital road marking projects and products completed and tested in different parts of the world. Guy Woodford looks at some of them in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa. The London borough of Kensington and Chelsea now has one of the most dramatic streetscape designs in Europe. Exhibition Road’s striking chequered granite design, featuring a single surface running from South Kensington Station to Hyde Park and the full width of the road from building to b
  • Bulgaria breaks ground for Martisa River bridge
    August 23, 2023
    The contract was awarded to local engineering firm GBS-Infrastructure Construction in Plovdiv, a subsidiary of the Bulgarian civil engineering group Glavbolgarstroy.
  • Work zone safety solution on busy world highways
    December 3, 2013
    Globally renowned highway work zone safety solution manufacturers have been providing some of their latest systems to protect roadworkers and motorists on high volume traffic highways. Guy Woodford reports Versilis has provided one of its state-of-the-art work zone safety solutions during the rehabilitation of North America’s busiest highway. The Canadian road safety product innovator and manufacturer was retained by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) to install automated traffic control