In summer 1858, when foul odors from the polluted River Thames forced the British Parliament to suspend its activities, legislators allocated funds to build London's first main sewers. A century and a half after the notorious Great Stink, the river is again under threat, this time from storm overflows.
Construction is starting on London's $7-billion Tideway program, which will include 39 kilometers of deep tunnels to intercept around half the 32 million tonnes of effluent that annually spills from the combined-sewer overflows.