The KPMG Infrastructure 100, a league table showcasing 100 of the most innovative infrastructure projects from around the world, includes Thames Water’s “supersewer” project, the Tideway Tunnel.
The Thames Tunnel involves the construction of a 30 kilometre-long tunnel, 70 meters under the River Thames, at a cost of roughly £4.1 billion. The project is badly needed as Thames Water looks to upgrade the city’s Victorian drainage system, which is becoming unable to cope, and ensure the water quality of the river Thames meets EU standards.
Five regional judging panels from around the world, assessed hundreds of submissions on criteria ranging from: feasibility, social impact, technical and financial complexity, innovation and impact on society.
The ‘Infrastructure 100: World Cities Edition’ highlights seven projects from the UK among the most innovative and sustainable global infrastructure projects, including a London hospital and a university campus.
The UK projects are: Edinburgh Food Waste, Edinburgh; Scotswood Urban Regeneration, Newcastle; Mersey Gateway, Cheshire; UWE New Campus, Bristol; Brixton Solar One, London; Thames Tideway Tunnel, London; Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel.
Richard Threlfall, KPMG’s UK Head of Infrastructure, Building and Construction, comments:
“The UK still punches way above its geographic and economic weight with seven of the 100 most important projects in the world across a range of sectors. This is despite a dwindling pipeline, construction projects being strangled by a lack of private finance, construction companies going bust and general gloom across the industry. We need to act now to develop private investment in infrastructure. This will not only to help kick start the UK economy but also to secure funding to ensure that our future infrastructure projects continue to be innovative. These pioneering projects go to the heart of solving the challenges the country faces, from regenerating our neighbourhoods to building education and health facilities fit for this century.”
Among the 10 projects selected in the water category of the league table, the feature project was Singapore’s new Tuas II Desalination Plant. The plant will serve a vital function, delivering 318,500 cubic meters (70 million gallons) of water per day for a 25-year concession period from 2013 to 2038. Singapore currently relies on rainfall and imports from neighbouring Malaysia for freshwater supplies.
Other water schemes to make the list are wastewater plants in Bahrain and Kuwait, an urgent flood mitigation project in Jakarta, and the Torrevieja Desalination Plant on Spain’s south east coast, Europe’s largest facility for converting seawater into fresh, and the second biggest in the world. After much political turmoil, the plant is finally about to begin production and will open in late 2012. It will have a capacity of 240,000 cubic meters per day.