Sewage needs software too. London’s labyrinthine network of tunnels carrying waste from the capital is getting a major overhaul in the shape of the nautically named Tideway tunnel and while its operator may be in the sewer it is looking at the cloud.
Construction of the £4.2 billion, 25-km-long “super sewer” beneath the Thames is being constructed by Bazalgette Tunnel Ltd, trading as Tideway and the company is now seeking a “computerised maintenance management system” (CMMS).
The contract opportunity, worth an initial £650,000, opened to tender this week, with a deadline for requests to participate of January 25. (Tideway wants a cloud-based package that will include user and hosting support, as well as maintenance.)
Tideway Tunnel: 36 Month Contract for Starters…
The initial contract will be for 36 months and can be extended for up to 10 years, Tideway said, adding that it will accept expressions of interest and tenders from single entities or consortia, providing participants are “jointly and severally liable for all of the obligations of the contractor under the contract” (in the crap together, as it were).
Super Sewer Software: Keeping it Regular
“The CMMS will be a software package that maintains a database to track information about the organisation’s maintenance operations. This information is used to help plan maintenance and inspection of assets in an optimal way. It can also be used to help verify compliance to regulators and other parties,” Tideway said.
“By ensuring thorough and robust maintenance of assets we can ensure the tunnel and associated assets operate at optimal performances at all times.”
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Preparatory work began on the Tideway Tunnel in 2015 and work is now underway at each of Tideway’s 24 sites in London. Work is due to finish in 2024 and, meanwhile, is turning up some unusual finds, including a 15th Century skeleton clad in thigh-high leather boots; sartorial attire contemporary contractors may appreciate.
At up to 66 metres deep and more than seven metres wide, the Thames Tideway Tunnel is the biggest infrastructure project ever undertaken by the UK water industry.
It generally follows the route of the River Thames, enabling it to connect to the ‘combined sewer overflows’ (CSOs) dotted along the riverbanks, passing beneath all other infrastructure in London and through a variety of different ground conditions.
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