The London Underground expansion of Bank Station has been 10 years in the making, with the Easter weekend marking a milestone in it’s development.
As the country scoffed chocolate eggs and sat in traffic jams, trains were being tested on a new section of the Northern Line.
The project is set to expand the station by 40% and ease the flow of the 120 million passengers who use the hub each year.
Other additions to the site include:
- A new railway tunnel and platform for the Northern line that will reduce interchange times and create more space for passengers
- Step-free access to the Northern line and improved step-free access to the DLR platforms
- More direct routes within the station, with two new moving walkways
- Two new lifts and 12 new escalators
- A new station entrance in Cannon Street
Bank Station has remained open during the project, however the Northern line between Kennington and Moorgate will be closed until mid-May.
This will give engineers the time they need to connect the new tunnels to the old network. The 17-week blockade is on a very strict schedule, with only several days leeway to join the tracks.
The £700 million project has had to navigate around 31 listed buildings, forcing most of the construction work to take place underground.
Spanish construction company Dragados, who are overseeing the project, have an impressive track record drilling tunnels for rail networks across the globe. They have also taken steps to reduce the environmental impact during their contract.
To date, the Bank Station project is:
- Saving 800 tonnes of carbon through the use of PFA (28%) and GGBS (50%) in concrete mixes
- Ensuring all timber is certified to FSC
- Installing LED task lighting that turn-off automatically, saving 7 tonnes of carbon
- Reducing waste timber by sending it to National Community Wood Recycling for reuse and recycling
- Recycling 99.9 % of waste, including all waste PPE
- Reducing unnecessary waste to landfill
The Central line link and DLR escalator is set to open Autumn 2022. And the new Cannon Street step-free access station is on track to be completed by the end of the year.
Tradesman Talk
Have you ever worked on a mega-project, and is it something you would do again?
And, what steps are you or your company taking to reduce their environmental impact?
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