Bea:
Last week 8N went on a trip to Tideway to learn about the different jobs in construction. After gobbling up our lunch we set off from baker street all the way to Tideway headquarters! We were then greeted by the real life staff and learnt about the new super sewage system that they are making. It turns out that the sewage system we are using now is more than 150 years old and is not big enough for London’s growing population so they are using massive drilling machines to make a whole new network that will last us (in its best condition) for the next 100 years!!! The trip was really fun and I learnt lots about how sewage works and the damage happening to the River Thames ecosystem. In fact there are more than 115 species of fish and 92 species of bird living in the river thames. Overall, the trip was a blast and I had loads of fun and learnt lots.
Tabby:
We visited the Tideway building last Tuesday to learn about the new “supersewers” and how they are being built. Initially, I had thought that we were going to see the sewer system itself, but we spent the trip inside the office building. The room that we were given was very comfortable and had a breathtaking view of the city. The Tideway employees who led the talk were very friendly and spoke straightforwardly about their work. We were shown videos about the company and learned about the various jobs that people have at the company. For example, we learned about the role that project managers play in keeping their colleagues safe and on schedule. At one point, we even played at guessing what people’s job titles were based on their answers to questions that we asked.
The project itself will have cost over £4.3 billion by the time that it is finished in the first half of 2025. This cost has been partly funded by increased costs for Thames Water customers and partly by independent investors in special-purpose companies specifically made for this project. Being 15 miles long and the width of three London buses, the tunnel is planned to intercept at least 94% of the millions of tonnes of sewage overflowing into the tidal Thames every year. It is hoped that the sewage waste being collected can be used for renewable energy and that the water can be cleaned and allowed into the environment without the pollution that is being caused by overflow from the Victorian sewage systems that we are currently using.
