Monster dredger ready to bed in new Tyne Tunnel

Mar 10 2010 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

The silt dug from the river bed to create the trench was also re-used in infill Tyne Dock to create development land for the Port of Tyne instead of being dumped at sea or landfilled.

Trevor Jackson, managing director of TT2, and New Tyne Crossing’s Concessionaire, said: “By reusing the clean, inert material from the river’s maintenance dredges we are saving it from being disposed of at sea. This is in addition to the material that was due for disposal at sea and landfill following the excavation of the river channel last year, all of which was reused to infill Tyne Dock.

“This represents around one million tonnes of reused waste in total, which I consider to be a fantastic environmental saving.”

Nicolas Caille, project managing director of Bouygues Travaux Publics, the design and build contractor for the project, said: “This is possibly one of the largest dredgers to work this far up the Tyne. It has a vital job to do in helping to refill the river bed.

“Once the dredger has finished its work, the rock armour will be put into place above the tunnel to protect it, leaving us to concentrate on completing works on the inside of the tunnel.”

Paul Fenwick, project director for the Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority, the project promoter, said: “With backfilling of the trench above the tunnel due to start, it shows that we’re moving into the final phase of work for the river section of the new tunnel.”

The dredger will also fill in the Howdon basin which will provide more land for the Port of Tyne.