Prior to the work, a thick wall separated the 25km super sewer from the 6.9km Lee Tunnel, which links Abbey Mills Pumping Station to Beckton Sewage Treatment Works. Now the two tunnels are connected for the first time, creating the London Tideway Tunnels network and paving the way for the new system to become operational.
While the Tideway team undertook the removal of the 1.5m-thick wall at Abbey Mills Pumping Station, a team from Thames Water worked at the eastern end at Beckton, constructing a new weir wall.
The entire system will now be brought online, with individual combined sewage overflows being connected to the new tunnel.
Following commissioning and testing, the project is expected to be fully operational in 2025.
Tideway chief technical officer Roger Bailey praised the two teams and said the focus was now on bringing the system into full operation.
