The Thames Cable Tunnel, also known as the Tilbury – Gravesend Cable Tunnel, is a tunnel carrying high-voltage electrical transmission lines beneath the lower

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

between

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a Tilbury Fort, 16th century fort ...

and

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

. It remains the furthest tunnel downstream on the Thames. Completed in 1970 at a cost of around £3 million (equivalent to £ million in ) by the

Central Electricity Generating Board The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s. It was established on 1 Januar ...

, the tunnel carries 400 kV transmission cables between substations at

and Kingsnorth as part of the National Grid. The tunnel is approximately deep, and was one of the first tunnels in the UK to be lined with pre-cast concrete segments rather than cast iron. A tunnel was chosen due to the high costs of building an overhead transmission line at this point in the river. In September 2023, National Grid announced that they were planning to retire the Thames Cable Tunnel, as it was approaching the end of its useful life. The Grain to Tilbury project aims to construct a new tunnel to replace it.

References

Tunnels in London Electric power infrastructure in England Electric power transmission in the United Kingdom Tunnels underneath the River Thames {{Europe-tunnel-stub

See also

References