Crossrail Canary Wharf Station construction advances

Pumps to drain nearly 100 million litres from the worksite over six weeks.

The next stage of the Crossrail’s Canary Wharf Station is underway as the coffer dam at North Quay in London’s Docklands is drained.

The pumps will drain 98 million litres of water over the next six weeks and transfer water from inside the site's specially constructed coffer dam to the North Dock at a maximum rate of 13,500 litres per minute. A station 'box' will then be constructed in a dry environment.

The water will be pumped through twin six-inch pipes inside the coffer dam to reveal the future scale of the new station. As the water level lowers, pumping will temporarily stop to enable engineering adjustments to the coffer dam.

Once the water level drops to approximately one metre above the dock bed, specialist contractors will go into the dock to safely remove and relocate any fish and aquatic life that might be present.

Canary Wharf Group plc is designing and constructing the station on behalf of Crossrail Ltd. The enabling and civil engineering works are delivered by Expanded, a subsidiary of Laing O'Rourke. The station is due to be completed in 2015, with Crossrail services to begin operating from 2017.

Transport Minister Sadiq Khan said: "I'm delighted Crossrail has passed another milestone. Draining this coffer dam marks an important new phase in the construction of the first Crossrail station that will be completed."

"When it is finished, Crossrail will boost the British economy by at least £20 billion, creating and supporting thousands of jobs and adding 10 per cent extra capacity to London's public transport network."

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Crossrail