How long will the steel tunnel wall on the deep level underground railway in London last?

Question

Some of the tunnels are over a hundred years old now. How long will it be before they have to close down the entire Northern Line? Some of those tunnels are a hundred and seventeen years old. They can't last forever. How long before we see the closure of these lines for major reconstruction? Or will they just leave it to rot until something horrendous happens?

Answer 1

never, they will always be able to upkeep them with modern methods, my god father used to be architectural maintenance for London underground and he has retired after 45 years in doing so. He reckons they will outlive me and you

Answer 2

As others have mentioned, the walls aren't actually walls but steel rings which are checked nightly. Yet people still moan that the Underground doesn't run 24 hours. I'm sure if it did and there was a major disaster because of a lack of maintenance people would be even quicker to point the finger.

So the next time anyone reading this has a go at an innocent member of staff because they were stupid enough to miss their last train, remember that the Underground closes nightly for YOUR safety.

Answer 3

2 YEARS, 27 DAYS, 9 HOURS, AND 14 MINUTES.

Answer 4

Every Evening after the Tube closes down, engineers walk the line not just chesking the track, but also the tunnel walls. If there are any fault spotted then it is reported and the engineers come in as soon as possible to repair them. If a tunnel fails then its does not get a daily safety certificate meaning that no train can run through it.

In answer to your question though...If the tunnels were not inspected and everything was left to nature. The life of the tunnel would depend on the nature od the ground arround it, so say it goes through mudstone and there was a lot of water seepage then the tunnel could last about 5-20 years, before defects in the metal started to weaken and then it would be about 20 years onwards before the tunnel fail.

Do not worry though as the tunnels in the underground network are inspected daily!

Answer 5

Every night when the maintenance crews for london underground come out of the woodwork usually each steel bold and nut are chacked, re-tightened replaced or in some cases the actual plate is replaced. They are constantly changed and repaired so the tunells will never give in.

However subsurface lines like the metropolitian line use cut and cover structure's where they dig out the tunell and cover it with bricks and mortar.

They are also replaced every 3 to 6 months as the vibrations from passing trains shakes the mortar loose.

No line will ever be closed down unless something bad happens in service.

They steel walls would be replaced at a pace of probably 1/4 to 1 mile every night.

Any more question dont hesitate to ask

Answer 6

Like others have said, there's a rolling program of inspection, maintenance and repair, nothing's left to collapse through old age.

As a matter of interest, about 50 miles away from here is a wrought iron railway bridge put up by Brunel & opened in 1859.  It is said to be in much better condition that the modern road bridge opened alongside in 1961.  The Victorians knew a thing or two about massive engineering, when they built something it was meant to last for centuries.

Answer 7

They aren't actually walls - they are steel rings, forming the tunnel. They are regularly checked and were any to be  showing signs of corrosion and possible failure they could be removed independently.  They will not all fail at once, if they fail at all. At the present time vast sums are being spent - probably not enough and not soon enough, I agree - on maintenance and updating of the whole network. It is an enormous job - one of the reasons Metronet went belly up in the summer. The Northern Line, that you specifically mention, was not included in the Metronet portfolio, but is the responsibility of Tubelines. A map is available at http://www.tubelines.com/explorer/tubeli... showing the work being undertaken on the Northern (amongst others)