Contractors Costain Skanska JV recently completed the 3.4 km-long stretch of tunnel under the River Thames between Wandsworth and Earls Court using TBM Evelyn. This involved the twin challenges of digging below the riverbed of the Thames while staying above the path of the proposed Thames Tideway tunnel. Finding a viable route was further complicated by the presence of depressions in the riverbed, known as scour hollows, which are formed by water currents. The drive under the Thames also required converting the TBM to closed EPB mode to minimize settlement. This month, National Grid is set to begin the final phase of tunnelling between Earls Court and Kensal Green, the last 5.5 km of London’s new 32 km electricity superhighway, expected to be completed in early 2015. Installation of the electricity cables that will transport power supplies across the capital began earlier this year, and the project is due to be fully complete and operational in 2018. Click uk/54 for tunnelbuilder archive and visit http://www2.nationalgrid.com/Media/UK-Press-releases/2014/National-Grid%E2%80%99s-subterranean-engineers-prep-for-last-big-dig-on-London-Power-Tunnels/. 37/14.