Medway Tunnel—construction

The Medway Tunnel project in north Kent comprises a link road approximately 1500 m long, 720 m of which is in tunnel under the River Medway, from the site of the old Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham across to the Hoo peninsula in Rochester. Construction splits naturally into eight discrete sections by virtue of the construction methods employed and this paper expands on these various methods with special emphasis on the construction of the immersed tube tunnel element. The contract commenced in 1992, and at the end of the contract in 1996, the client received a project completed to time and cost and as defined in his scope of works.