Tunnel bore hole testing on Farrer House lawn

Bore hole testing equipment was erected outside Farrer House today by Soil Engineering, subcontractors for Thames Tunnel. The Assistant Engineer's Rep for TT, Andrew Thrower, was on site during the construction. Andrew acts as liaison between TT and local stakeholders including Lewisham Council etc, and was surprised to learn that residents had been given no notice that the testing was to take place.

In the absence of any notifying letter to residents, he told us that this site will be in use for 3-4 weeks and that the first couple of days will be a bit noisy.

UPDATE 19/04/12:
Farrer House residents received a letter dated 4th April last week (9th-15th).

UPDATE 28/04/12:
Holden House received the same letter two days after this post. The noise from the rig, which resembles an idling lorry, can be heard from the other side of the railway, but is obviously louder for Farrer House residents. It is continuous during the week but stops for lunch and weekends.

However, there is another noise which goes on all weekend and can be heard as a continuous hum two hundred metres away from its source. In a Holden House flat it sounds as if a neighbour is continuously vacuuming their floor, or operating an extractor fan all day. The noise gets much louder if you walk across the Ha'Penny Hatch towards the source at Greenwich Pumping Station. Here the sound is of industrial strength and decibel levels are surely being exceeded.