Andy Mitchell
CEO, Tideway
The job of cleaning up the River Thames is vital – and the next step toward a more personal and emotional connection to London’s greatest natural asset.
We know that humans have a very personal and emotional connection to water. For me, working from home for the past year has given me a much deeper appreciation of the water I live by, the River Thames.
My job, actually my life really, is all about building the super sewer. I feel very proud that everyone at Tideway also feels passionate about the importance of cleaning up our city’s greatest natural asset.
Solving the pollution problem
Millions of tonnes of sewage spills into London’s iconic waterway each year and stopping that is vital to the continued prosperity of the city and our environment.
But watching it each day from my home, watching its traffic and its tides, the potential of the Thames is clearer to me than ever.
Yes, cleaning it up is important. But I’m proud that we’re going far beyond that, creating a lasting legacy that will benefit many generations in the future.
Beyond improving the quality of the Thames’s tidal waters, we’re on a mission to reconnect London with the River Thames.
Reconnecting Londoners with their river
It’s about more than just building a tunnel. We wanted to change the way we treat our waterway, from appreciating its use as a transport link, protecting the safety of those who work on it and opening our doors to a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Beyond improving the quality of the Thames’s tidal waters, we’re on a mission to reconnect London with the River Thames.
We’ve used its waters to transport our materials to site, so far keeping more than 540,000 HGVs away from London’s roads. In the process, we have seen a 90% reduction in CO2 compared with the HGV equivalent. No wonder those on the Thames call it ‘liquid gold’.
But the most visible impact of our work will undoubtably be the new areas of land we’re creating in the Thames.
New public space in central London
Seven new areas of public space will cover our underground infrastructure once we’re finished in 2025, giving never-before-seen vantages of the river.
Tideway is building the biggest extension to London’s sewer network since the Victorians. We’re looking forward to handing over these new spaces to Londoners and confident their investment in cleaning up the Thames will be a source of pride for generations to come.
