HS2 reveals machines that will drill the Midlands route next year
HS2’s first two enormous Tunnel Boring Machines are now ready to be shipped to the UK, from Germany, to begin the 10-mile-long Chiltern tunnel excavation.
The first machine has been named after Florence Nightingale: the founder of modern nursing, while the second machine has been named after pioneering astronomer and astrophysicist, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin. Both names were suggested by high school students. Around 4,500 people from across the UK then took part in the poll to select the final names.
The enormous 2,000 tonne machines – which have been built by world-leading German tunnelling specialists Herrenknecht – will be shipped in pieces to the UK and arrive at Align's main site to the west of London just inside the M25 later this year.
‘Florence’ is set to be launched early next year to begin digging the 10-mile-long Chiltern tunnel. ‘Cecilia’ will launch around a month afterwards and dig the other half of the ‘twin bore’ tunnel.
Both 170m long machines are specifically designed for the mix of chalk and flint they will encounter under the Chilterns. Operating a ‘continuous boring’ technique, they are expected to take around 3 years to excavate the 9.1m metre diameter tunnels which will be lined with concrete as they go. The TBMs will mix the spoil with water to form a slurry which will be pumped back to the main site where it will be treated before being used for landscaping on-site, removing the need for additional HGVs on local roads.
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