NEWS |


Silvertown main bores complete with TBM finish


Nepal diversion tunnel progress NEPAL – More than half of tunnelling has been completed on the Nepal Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Tunnel Project, and construction was five months ahead of schedule by late summer. Working together on the project, China


Railway No. 2 Group Co Ltd and China Overseas Engineering Group Co Ltd had completed almost 6.7km of the diversion tunnel, by mid-year, with a 6.4m-diameter Robbins TBM. The 13.3km-long water tunnel passes


through difficult geological areas such as high water inflow, extrusion rock, geothermal, rock burst and a fault zone. It is the first TBM bored tunnel to pass


through the Kathmandu spiral geological structure. The TBM has set an average monthly


Above: Final stage tunnelling and fit-out next at Silvertown project, London Source: TfL/ Riverlinx CJV


UK – Tunnel boring for London’s Silvertown road tunnel has been completed under the River Thames and Riverlinx CJV is now excavating the eight cross-passages between the two parallel bores. Boring finished mid-year when


the 11.91m-diameter Herrenknecht TBM ‘Jill’ – the only TBM on the twin-tube project – broke through on the north side of the Thames River, completing its second drive. The TBM is the largest to be


used in the UK. It was launched from Newham on the north side of the river in September 2022 to undertake the first bore. The 1.1km-long southbound drive was completed in five months, reaching Greenwich in February. At Greenwich, the Riverlinx CJV


used nitrogen ‘skates’ to rotate the sections of the TBM in the reception chamber before it was prepared for relaunch on the second, northbound bore, back to Newham. The air cushion system was developed by Herrenknecht and its partners. The cross-passages are now


being delivered using ground- freezing and building temporary propping into the cross-passage linings. Ducting which will be located underneath the carriageway in the tunnel is also being installed.


6 | October 2023


Installation of the main road surface in the tunnel is to start by year end. Work on the cut and cover sections, including the portal entrances, continues along with the new road layouts. Transport for London’s (TfL) head


of the Silvertown Tunnel project, Helen Wright, said completion of tunnel boring was “a massive milestone”, and to achieve it in under a year illustrated the project team’s hard work and close collaboration. “Engineers are working around


the clock to deliver this project with minimal impact to those living, working and visiting the local area and we remain committed to delivering a project that supports growth in the local area and provide new public transport connections across the river,” she said. Riverlinx CJV project director


Juan Angel Martinez said “The technical expertise, focus and collaboration of this team have enabled us to safely complete the main tunnel drive to programme. The CJV formed by Ferrovial Construction, BAM Nuttall and SK Ecoplant has done a fantastic job. Silvertown Tunnel is scheduled to


open in 2025.


advance of 833.3m and, in May, achieved a maximum progress of 1,136m. The machine features a tapered design to reduce the risk of getting stuck in squeezing ground. By diverting water from the Sunkoshi


River to the Marin River, the tunnel will connect to a new 28.6MW hydropower surface plant and also help improve farmland irrigation.


Large shaft boring machine launch in Shanghai CHINA – A world-ranking sized shaft boring machine has been launched at an underground smart parking garage project in Jing’an District, Shanghai. The 230-tonne CRCHI ‘Dream’ is 10m-high and its excavation diameter is 23.02m. CRCHI said ‘Dream’ integrates the excavation, slagging, support and guidance functions for the construction of super- large diameter shafts in soft soil and soft rock strata. It adds that shaft boring machines with


an excavation diameter of 13m-14m have been developed for mechanised shaft construction, this is machine is more than 15m diameter. The company’s R&D team designed


the equipment with enhanced reliability during construction through water- bearing strata and provides for unmanned construction work, reducing costs and improving safety. The Shanghai underground smart


parking garage project has 19 floors. It involves two 53m-deep deep foundation shafts of 23m-diameter. Each shaft is to have 152 mechanical


parking spaces.


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