A shallow tram tunnel – the first of its kind – could be built beneath the new thoroughfare, with much of the work being carried out using a cut-and-cover method during the schemes works. This plan would create Kingsway and Aldwych, as we know them today.įrom a relatively early stage, the Council realised that the construction of this new thoroughfare presented a rare opportunity to carry out some major transport works as well, allowing tram traffic and road traffic to be properly separated. After much debate, and in the face of some opposition, it was decided that a radical and complete reworking of the Holborn area was necessary, with a considerable amount of the existing area demolished in order to make way for a new, wide thoroughfare stretching from High Holborn in the north down to the Embankment. As the end of the Nineteenth Century approached, London County Council began to look at a variety of options for sorting out the increasingly congested streets north of Waterloo Bridge and above the Strand. An Opportunity for Joined Up Thinkingīefore looking at the state of the Tunnel today, it is perhaps worth providing some historical context. The Indiana to our Henry Jones, his look at the Tunnel can be found here, and is well worth a read. Perhaps more importantly, the relatively early stage of the works also meant an opporunity to push on further into the remains of the northern section of the Tunnel to Holborn Tram station and beyond.Īs with the Widened Lines, Ianvisits was our companion on this trip. This map gives a nice overview of the central section of Crossrail (save to your computer for the large version)Ĭonstruction of the first of those shafts is now under way, and photos of this can be found below. Photographing the walls of site offices is an LR tradition. The presence of the remains of the Kingsway Tram Tunnel is thus rather fortuitous, as it allows two shafts to be driven down from within through which the grouting can be carried out, without disruption to one of London’s key thoroughfares above. Strengthening the ground within the immediate area of Southampton Row is thus required in order to mitigate any risk of subsidence. It was Crossrail themselves who swiftly spotted a similar opportunity and helpfully arranged access – the Kingsway Tram Tunnel.Īs with the Widened Lines, the new Crossrail tunnels will pass at depth beneath Kingsway, with a crossover connection also present. Given the length and route of the Crossrail tunnels therefore, and the likely need for grouting elsewhere, what other sites within the City might this present a rare chance to take a closer look at?

The opportunity arose thanks to the need to carry out compensation grouting ahead of the passage of the Crossrail TBMs below, leading to the Line’s being temporarily occupied by Crossrail themselves as a worksite. Our previous excursion into the disused City Widened Lines beneath Smithfield prompted a certain amount of thought.

Aldwych underpass