The construction of Marc Brunel’s Thames Tunnel in London was quite literally a ground-breaking project! Starting in 1825, the tunnel was completed in 1843 using a revolutionary tunnel shield and was the first tunnel to successfully be built under a river. It connected Rotherhithe and Wapping, opening up a valuable pedestrian connection between the north and south banks of the Thames.
In 1869, the Thames Tunnel was converted into a railway tunnel and to this day still forms part of London’s rail network. And thanks to rail manufactured in Scunthorpe, the tunnel continues to keep people moving across the capital. Brunel’s formidable spirit of innovation continued with our flagship rail productZinoco®.
Specially designed to perform in corrosive environments, we recently worked with customerto supply 120 56E1 Zinococoated rails. Darren Cole, Account Manager, said: “We coated the rails on our new state-of-the-art coating line. Zinoco is a barrier coating with sacrificial protection so is the perfect solution for extending rail life in harsh environments, such as wet tunnels. Our team of commercial, technical and production experts worked diligently with Cleshar throughout this project, making sure they had exactly the right product at the right time for successful completion.”