Work on supersewer to begin this year

WORK on London's £2.2billion "supersewer" - described as the biggest engineering project in the capital - is due to begin this year, Thames Water said today.

The sewer, which it is hoped will put paid to the capital's sewers overflowing, consists of two tunnels - the Lee tunnel running 4.3miles from Abbey Mills in Stratford and one running 20miles from the west, both meeting at Beckton.

Work is scheduled to start on the £400million Lee tunnel this year and expected to finish in 2014.

Thames Water said it had had four tenders for the Lee tunnel contract and the firm's Phil Stride said: "We hope to award contracts this year."