Urban Tunneling: The Vauxhall Underground Station Upgrade, SEE Tunnel – Promoting Tunneling in SE European Region

Synopsis:

The Vauxhall Station Upgrade project is currently under construction in London, UK by Bechtel Ltd. (Bechtel) as the main contractor, with Sprayed Concrete Lining (SCL) designed by Gall Zeidler Consultants (GZ) in a design-build procurement model. A mandate of London Underground (LU) is to provide Step Free Access for disabled customers in any station which undergo upgrade schemes. To provide this access at Vauxhall Station, a new SCL shaft and tunnels are being built to connect to the existing station ticket hall with the platforms. Avoiding time consuming and costly utility relocation, the SCL works are currently being constructed from within a disused bin store of the station, with no direct access from the surface. Geometrical constraints necessitated that the SCL construction occur within close proximity to existing station structures and underground platform tunnels, all of which were required to remain in full operation during the works. This paper presents the design and construction challenges which were encountered during the project and are specifically unique to tunnelling in a dense urban setting such as London.

2015 World Tunnel Congress Conference Proceedings
May 22-28, 2015, Dubrovnik, Croatia (Bauer, A., Reda, D., & Beirne, C.)
Copyright holds the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA).