ABSTRACT

An American’s view...............................................................................................7 The beginning..........................................................................................................8 The Parliamentary effect......................................................................................10 Finding suitable locations ................................................................................... 11 Archaeology...........................................................................................................12 Limiting damage to the existing infrastructure...............................................13 Unforeseen geological conditions ......................................................................19 Protecting the environment.................................................................................20 Material supply and disposal .............................................................................22 Conclusion .............................................................................................................24

A Joint Venture of Balfour Beatty Major Projects and AMEC Civil Engineering was awarded the contract to build the Waterloo and Westminster section of the new Jubilee Line in late 1993. Major construction work commenced in the spring of 1994. Although the combined tunneling experience of these two companies is second to none in the United Kingdom and must be near the top of any worldwide rankings, there was no experience in the type of settlement control and restrictions required for this project. Possible damage to such structures as Big Ben, Waterloo station, and the surrounding infrastructure was to be avoided by the use of a relatively new technique called “compensation grouting.” Although trials of this system had been