Canary Wharf Railway Station - Station Design and Layout

Station Design and Layout

The station is to be constructed beneath and within the West India North Dock. The station will extend from east of the Docklands Light Railway bridge to the east end of the dock. The station will be constructed within a 475-metre (1,558 ft) long concrete box with a 245-metre (804 ft) long island platform. This will be fitted out to 210 m (690 ft) with the potential for extension should the need to operate longer trains arise. A 165-metre (541 ft) long scissor crossover at the western end of the station will enable trains to terminate at Canary Wharf and return either to central London or to Abbey Wood.

Progress update

Throughout 2009 the main focus was on installing 293 interlocking steel piles 18.5 m (61 ft) high and 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) wide into the dock floor using ten-storey high piling cranes and Giken piling machines to form a cofferdam. As part of this 38 metre deep reinforced concrete piles have been placed through each of the 293 steel tubes. A further 160 temporary anchor piles and ties have been installed to provide restraint for the cofferdam wall.

On 11 February 2010 Transport Minister Sadiq Khan switched on pumps designed to drain nearly 100 million litres (22,000,000 imp gal; 26,000,000 US gal) from the work site over the following six weeks. The pumps will transfer water from inside the site's specially constructed cofferdam to the North Dock at a maximum rate of 13,500 litres (3,000 imp gal; 3,600 US gal) per minute.

A station 'box' will then be constructed in a dry environment - a similar technique to that used in the construction of the nearby Canary Wharf tube station.