Crossrail - above and below

Ever since I watched the TV documentary about Crossrail I have been fascinated by it. Not one known for my particular interest in engineering I got hooked into this. Of course Crossrail is local to me in that it runs through London, a place I frequent a lot. Trying to get around those places where building is going on has at times been most frustrating. Roads outside stations like Tottenham Court Road become a nightmare. Often when I'm in London it seems as if it one big building site, not only due to Crossrail but also new apartments and public spaces. There is also work going on to link Battersea to the Northern Line and the creation of a new tube station at Nine Elms. I pass the works every time I go into London as the train nears Vauxhall, and Vauxhall itself is rising into the sky with its tall buildings. At night the skyline of London is lit by red lights on top of the multitude of cranes like silent dragons watching over London.

Yet this is my London and I love it despite the frustrations, and these days I feel excitement as Crossrail nears completion. I recently took my fascination a stage further and signed up for a five week course to learn about the line which I really should now call the Elizabeth Line. The course is at Morley College, which itself is going through some transformation as a new frontage is being built and entry is around the back. Finding the room in the first week was like walking through a maze of corridors, and aptly we are down in the basement!

Over the weeks we are learning about the route the Elizabeth Line is taking, it's history and about the villages (yes, London was once more rural village that city) the line runs through. We are discovering families who lived in these place in the 1700's, what happened to the buildings, how London spread and of course about the excavations into the earth as all that soil has to come out. We have looked at the boring machines (all named after famous London women) and how far this one could drill each day in comparison to the one used in the 1800's by the pioneer civil engineer James Henry Greathead. The Greathead Shield tunneled through to make the line that was to eventually form part of the District and Circle lines, and used the cut and cover method for the roof. The machines for Crossrail age huge and not only drill but line the walls and ceilings with metal covers. The earth is conveyed up and is reused. Over 90% of the earth has found a home and not been wasted or dumped. The boring machines work seven days a week and 24 hours a day. They manned by crews taking shifts. The precision needed in parts of London is mindblowing as they drill underneath where busy commuters are rushing off to work and in places are passing millimetres away from escalators!

I have been astounded by the whole project but also excited. I cannot wait to travel on this line which will eventually run from Reading to Shenfield with spur lines to Heathrow Airport and Abbey Wood. Part of the line is already open and the rest opens in stages until the whole line opens in December 2019. I've been told the trains are the length of two football pitches and that if (in one place) you get on the train, and it is standing still, you could walk to the other end and be at the next station.

This week we were looking at Liverpool Street where the deep excavations to put in the line are below Roman times. Amazing. The stations when they open will be amazing too. Constructed to let in as might light as possible with glass roofs and light reflecting walls. Then there is the art. There is soon to be an exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery about the art work on the new line.

Taken at The Skip Park, Kings Cross a year or so ago showing a few cranes working in London

I am currently coming to the end of a book recommended by our course tutor which has been really interesting. I also visit the Crossrail website which has lots of information, photos and films (do go and see for yourself) and follow them on Facebook for updates. There was a behind the scenes visit to Canary Wharf recently but I couldn't go because I was at the class! Ironic.

London is steeped in history. We are walking on it everyday. Sometimes I'd love to go back and see London before the Romans came, when it was pagan tribes, the river Thames was wider and wildlife we can hardly believe once roamed here were part and parcel of the area. Now wouldn't that be good? Well, it would be good for me.