£110M of track and building drainage services requested by Transport for London | New Civil Engineer

It published the requirement on 19 December 2024 and is accepting bids until 10:00am on 3 February 2025.

The scope of the contract includes planned, reactive and corrective maintenance, survey and inspection services and specialist services.

The competitive procurement exercise is for “the award of a single contract for the supply of building and track drainage maintenance and associated services within stations, depots, sidings, other buildings and track areas within the TfL and TfL subsidiaries network, including without limitation London Underground, London Overground and Rail for London Infrastructure, such as the Elizabeth line.

TfL said 29 types of asset are included within the scope of the contract, such as gullies, soil pipes, oil interceptors, manholes, pump sumps, ditches, soakaways, cesspits, outfalls, troughs and inspection chambers.

The tender said: “The proposed contract will be for a period of five years with an option to extend for up to a maximum of two years.

“Interested parties must register on Transport for London’s SAP Ariba system and then request access to the procurement event.

“Interested parties can then view the specification, performance requirements, and contract and then submit their supplier qualification responses before the time and date stated (10:00am on Monday 3 February 2025).”

2021 flooding of TfL stations led to calls for reassessment of flood risk

In July 2021, video footage shared on social media showed water from heavy downpours cutting off access at Hackney Wick station and at Pudding Mill Lane station, which is just south of the 2012 Olympic Park.

Both stations are in the Lee Valley catchment area which was hit by heavy rain.

At the time, Civic Engineers founding director Stephen O’Malley said that sustainable drainage options will need to be revisited across many projects in London to help deal with future flood events.

He said: “It is remarkable that in the space of a fortnight we’ve had two of these major [flood] episodes. It does highlight how the network is exposed to the flood threat.

“Authorities right across the UK need to be more mindful of the flood risk, there is arguably a myopic approach to these problems [such as flooding] and they are often dealt with one at a time, however as an engineering profession we should be looking at overlapping inter-dependent systems and networks.”

2024 plan pledged more sustainable drainage

In March 2024, TfL launched its green infrastructure and biodiversity plan which it said captured “in one place, for the first time, its existing relevant targets, legal requirements and policy commitments, while also setting out the strategic actions TfL will take to deliver them.”

The plan included a commitment to 5,000m² of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) installed on its road network each year.

Reacting to the plan in March, Keyline technical director George Woollard said: “Defaulting to SuDS as the favoured drainage solution is a welcome addition to the TfL plan.”

London flood risk under review

The 2018 London Regional Flood Risk Assessment is under review and experts told NCE about the complex considerations that will have to be given to drawing up guidance for managing water in the ever-evolving city.

The review was revealed by the Greater London Authority (GLA) in response to a question by a member of the public.

The GLA said: “The London Plan team is currently undertaking an evidence-base review, which includes updating the 2018 London Regional Flood Risk Assessment.

“This revised assessment will seek to provide a more comprehensive and up-to-date technical report, outlining a clear roadmap for enhancing flood resilience in London, with a deeper understanding of the city’s spatial wastewater drainage capacities.”

Giving more detail, a GLA spokesperson told NCE: “The London Regional Flood Risk Assessment is being updated to align with the new London Plan timeline and it will be published in due course.”

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