New Tyne Tunnel a step further as sluice gates opened
Dec 12 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal
THE second Tyne Tunnel edged closer yesterday when the sluice gates were opened to flood the dry dock containing the four river-section units.
It is planned to float out the concrete units into the Tyne from the dock at Walker in Newcastle in the New Year.
Each tunnel unit is 90 metres long, 15 metres wide and eight metres high. They will be placed in a trench dredged in the river bed to form the underwater section of the new vehicle tunnel.
David Wood, chairman of the project’s promoter the Tyne & Wear Integrated Transport Authority, started the flooding accompanied by Trevor Jackson, managing director of New Tyne Crossing Concessionaire TT2, Nicolas Caille, project managing director for main design and build contractor Bouygues Travaux Publics, and Gerrit Smit, project manager at Gateshead-based contracto VolkerStevin Marine, which built the units.
Coun Wood said: “The flooding of the dry dock marks an exciting phase of construction. The river section tunnel units will be positioned in the river early next year and it will be possible to walk through them from one side of the river to the other in the spring. That’s an amazing thought.”
The new tunnel is due to open to traffic in February 2011.
