How shared vision led to the ‘timely’ and ‘on budget’ delivery of Thames Tideway Tunnel project

At the end of October, a new ‘micro park’ opened in London which was built out into the River Thames to house part of the super sewer infrastructure below ground. This new public space is just one example of the benefits being realised by the Thames Tideway Tunnel project. APM spoke to Tideway, the company delivering the project, to find out how a clear sense of purpose helped its successful delivery.

The delivery of the Thames Tideway Tunnel project has been cited by the British press as “a masterclass in bringing a major infrastructure project in on time and within budget.” While there’s nothing new about the media focusing on ‘iron triangle’ metrics, what really makes the project stand out are the benefits it’s delivering and the way in which these have been delivered as part of a wider, shared vision.

Work on the Thames Tideway Tunnel began in 2016. The project’s aim is to transform the health of the River Thames by eliminating the harmful effects of sewage pollution. By February 2025, the tunnel was connected and protecting the River Thames. The project is due to be fully up and running (with testing complete) by the end of 2025. Once finished, Tideway anticipates that the super sewer will virtually eliminate the harmful effects of sewage pollution on the River Thames through central London. Thames Water will then operate the system, as part of its London wastewater network.

Working as One
The Tideway Tunnel project’s delivery success lies in its alliance of contractors. The west region is being delivered by a joint venture of BAM Nuttall, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure and Balfour Beatty. The central region is being delivered by a joint venture of Ferrovial Agroman UK and Laing O'Rourke. The east region is being delivered by a joint venture of Costain, Vinci Construction Grands Projets and Bachy Soletanche. 

Although Tideway was presented as a unified project, its delivery relied on the programme team to manage the controls, logistics and stakeholder engagement across all these groups to ensuring smooth integration. The success of this collaboration was driven by the shared vision and clarity of purpose the project had.

“The CEO, Andy Mitchell, and the board were very clear about the aspirations for the project from the outset,” Andy Alder, Thames Tideway’s Programme Director until summer 2023, said. “Tideway has a critical environmental purpose that included creating new public places on the river and reconnecting people with the Thames. It was viewed as a once in a lifetime project to create new land in London.”

For the Thames Tunnel project, the shared vision was achieved through:

• Clear communication – Despite being a very large and complex infrastructure project, Andy Mitchell, CEO of Tideway, was very transparent about purpose from the start. This helped the project to keep focus on what it was trying to achieve and not get buoyed down by the pressures working on a large infrastructure project can bring.
• Human cantered approach – The project took the deliberate approach of putting the people, not just the numbers, central. This Human-centric approach strengthens trust within a team and was described by one Tideway employee as making “a big difference.” Framing project benefits in terms of real-world impact, not just metrics, can make a huge difference for teams.
• Empowering teams and decision making - Tideway clarified roles and responsibilities of project professionals, often delegating decisions to them. This built trust and autonomy in its teams, which reduced bottlenecks, allowed for faster decisions and ultimately strengthened the team’s commitment to the vision.

A shared vision helps project delivery in several ways:

• Clarity of Purpose – A shared understanding of the end goal ensures everyone involved is working towards the same outcome, helping to balance expectations and provide a clear point of reference for the project journey.
• Improved commitment and ownership – As it ensures everyone working on the project is on the same page regarding the outcomes, there will be a stronger sense of commitment to achieving it.
• More effective decision-making – Having a unified understanding of a project can serve as a constant reference point, this can be helpful when making difficult decisions, ensuring any decision is consistent with the ultimate goal of a project.
  This focus on the benefits and outcomes of the project, instead of financial KPIs helped to create a shared vision for people working on the project. Adler said that having a shared vision led to a “one team work ethic and ensured project pressure wasn’t cascaded into poor decisions.” 

In addition to its core purpose of creating a cleaner, healthier River Thames, other benefits delivered by the project include: 

• Using the Thames to transport material, bringing jobs and skills back to the river
• Supporting communities through employment and through partnerships with local organisations
• Creating new public spaces in and around the Thames, including the newly opened 1,000m2 'micro park', situated opposite the iconic London Eye.

If you’re interested in learning more about Tideway, the upcoming winter issue of Project features an in-depth commentary from Tideway’s Chief Executive, Andy Mitchell CBE. Project is the official quarterly journal of Association for Project Management (APM). APM members receive Project free as part of their member benefits package. If you’re already not a member, you can join here.