EXPANSION JOINTS FOR SEWERAGE SYSTEM

You may have seen it on the BBC news…
Back in 2015 the BBC aired a short documentary from the Lee tunnel, which is a part of London’s Thames water project. The aim of this project is to improve London’s sewerage system. HRH The Prince of Wales visited the tunnel to perform the official opening ceremony, marking the 150-year anniversary of the London sewerage system. But did you know that some of the Expansion Joints installed in the tunnel were designed and produced by Belman?

The Expansion Joints
Belman designed and manufactured 12 Universal Expansion Joints for this project, these were installed in the pipes carrying sewage from the underground tunnel to the above ground treatment plant. The Bellows are made from Inconel 625, while the flow liner and the flanges are made from 1.4404 stainless steel. The flow liners were designed with extra material thickness as the London sewage system still uses the Victorian brick lined tunnels in places, there was a concern that over time the lining of these tunnels could break away leading to the potential of the lining bricks being sucked up the pipes. The flow liners were designed to withstand direct impact from this foreign material. The tie rods support the Expansion Joint during installation as they were installed in large pre-fabricated pipe sections above ground then lowered down into the shaft.

Belman’s experience counts

Belman has a +25-year long tradition in the design and manufacture of Expansion Joints. The company has built a strong technical base with extensive references from many interesting and well-known projects such as this one in the Lee Tunnel.

Link to the BBC documentary

You can still see the Lee Tunnel documentary: Click here