HS2 begins tunnelling to central London скачать в хорошем качестве

HS2 begins tunnelling to central London

The first of two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) building the HS2 route to Euston has begun its 4.5-mile (7.2km) journey from Old Oak Common Bringing HS2 into Euston is critical for regenerating the area, with the potential to contribute £41 billion to the UK economy The Euston tunnel is the fifth and final deep twin-bore tunnel on the 140-mile (225km) HS2 route between central London and Birmingham The tunnel represents the next stage of the HS2 project, which will eventually see high-speed trains run directly to a new station in central London. Building the tunnel is a crucial step in the wider regeneration of the Euston area, attracting investment and creating new homes and jobs. The TBM was manufactured by Herrenknecht AG in Germany and shipped to the UK in 2024 before being carefully lifted into and reassembled in the giant underground station box at Old Oak Common. Engineers from HS2's London tunnels contractor, Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture (SCS JV), have been working to prepare the machines for their tunnelling mission over the last 12 months. The TBM is an underground factory – working around the clock to excavate, install the concrete ring segments that form the walls, and seal them into place as it moves forward at an average speed of about 16 metres (52ft) per day. A separate logistics tunnel, completed in January 2024, supports the tunnelling operation for the Euston tunnel. The 853-metre (2,799ft) Atlas Road logistics tunnel allows the tunnelling team to access both machines, deliver construction materials including 48,294 concrete ring segments (combined total), and remove more than 1.5 million tonnes of excavated spoil. All the excavated material from the tunnel will be taken by conveyor to the London Logistics Hub at the Willesden Euro terminal depot. From there it is taken by rail for reuse in projects in Kent, Cambridgeshire and Warwickshire. The journey to central London will see the TBM pass under the final resting place of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in Kensal Green cemetery. Brunel is widely celebrated as one of the world's most ingenious figures in engineering history, and set standards for building a modern railway. Following the tradition of naming TBMs after women, the first TBM launched to build the Euston tunnel is named Madeleine after the former president of the Women's Engineering Society, Madeleine Nobbs. She lived from 1914 to 1970 and worked as a building services engineer. Her father dissuaded her from pursuing a career in engineering, but after her mother met Adria Buchanan, the first woman to become a member of the Institute of Heating and Ventilating Engineers, she told her husband he could no longer refuse to support his daughter in her ambition. The Euston tunnel will complete the 27.5 miles (44km) of deep bore tunnelling on HS2 between London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street. 📢 Subscribe for the latest news and updates from Britain’s high-speed railway, HS2. Follow us on social media: 💼 X:   / hs2ltd   📸 Instagram:   / hs2ltd   📘 Facebook:   / hs2ltd   🔗 LinkedIn:   / high-speed-two-hs2-ltd   #HS2 #Train #Rail #Infrastructure #Construction #HighSpeedRail #Engineering Get in touch: If you have any questions about HS2 or our ongoing works, contact our HS2 Helpdesk team: 📞 Call: 08081 434 434 📧 Email: hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk