Sustainable innovation

Joseph Gallagher Ltd (JGL), part of the Joseph Gallagher Group, is the UK’s largest specialist tunnelling and civil engineering subcontractor, turning over in excess of £100 million per annum. Having celebrated its 40th year in business last year, JGL continues to grow and diversify into new markets.

The Joseph Gallagher Group is a combination of specialist companies established in the 1990s via the acquisition of several subsidiary companies, which allowed the business to offer complete service packages. It was brought together by Group Chairman and founder, Joseph Gallagher, who continues to play an instrumental role in the company.

It has been involved in some of the UK’s largest infrastructure projects, including London’s infamous Super Sewer (Tideway Tunnel), HS2 and numerous works on high-profile Transport for London underground stations. It currently has 45 live projects in the UK and Middle East and supplies equipment across the United States and Europe.

JGL offers a broad range of services to its clients, with the capacity to deliver all tunnelling techniques. Tunnelling is a precise service requiring a wealth of knowledge and experience, due to the wide range of environments in which work is carried out. The team begins a project by assessing ground conditions to identify the best technology and approach and has access to the specific equipment required for every type of job.

The company is proud to deliver popular tunnelling methods, such as pipe jacking, Sprayed Concrete Lining (SCL), and auger boring, which is favoured for its accuracy and efficiency. It is also well-positioned to provide niche services. Its subsidiary, Specialist Plant Associates (SPA), provides unique microtunnelling services, for example, and is the only UK-based company offering compressed air solutions.

Having expanded into the structures sector in 2004, JGL offers solutions in structural alterations and refurbishments. It has since worked on some of the UK’s most prestigious landmarks, such as the Royal Albert Hall, the British Museum, and Harrods. It has also been partnered with the Berkeley Group since the late 2000s to assist with residential projects, accurately completing basement works by lowering foundations through underpinning.

JGL consistently completes projects on time and within budget, satisfying clients and encouraging repeat custom. The business has, for example, been contracted for several major works across all three sections of the Thames Tideway project. Its access to subsidiary assets, such as specialist equipment and crane hire, combined with its extensive tunnelling workforce brought a unique efficiency to the project. Specifically, JGL was commissioned to deliver a combined sewer outfall shaft and an SCL connection tunnel into the Tideway main system. It was approached again to install a new 900-millimetre concrete pipeline and connections into two utility access hole chambers. Success on both projects led to yet another appointment on the Tideway project: to push a 30-metre pipe beneath the river Thames from one side of Vauxhall Bridge to the other,