Ebbsfleet—Earthworks

At the turn of the century, the government announced plans to create a new town in North Kent. This development, known as Ebbsfleet Garden City, would consist of up to 15,000 new homes, 6 million ft² of commercial space and 3 million ft² of retail, leisure, community and education facilities. The site, located within the former industrial chalk quarries and cement manufacturing facilities was chosen for its proximity to the M2 / M25 junction, the QEII bridge, and the HS1 terminal. In 2014, plans were formalised, and Ebbsfleet Garden City was born.

One of the unmistakable features of the site is the very large Western Cross lake which needed draining. The lake contained approximately six billion litres of water. To address this, a pumping strategy was developed, resulting in the construction of 12km of pumping main out to two new outfall headwalls on the Thames foreshore on the Northfleet peninsula. Over 1km of these mains were directionally drilled to preserve a SSSI and to prevent disruption to a Network Rail bridge.

The project team implemented innovative solutions to overcome the challenges posed by the site’s unique features. The directional drilling technique used for the pumping mains ensured minimal environmental impact and maintained the integrity of critical infrastructure. The comprehensive ecological management and destructive search efforts ensured that the development was carried out responsibly and sustainably.