NEWS |


HS2 milestones at Northolt, Bromford tunnels


Snowy 2.0 seeks extra TBM to help project timeline AUSTRALIA - A fourth TBM could be deployed on Australia’s Snowy 2.0 hydropower project to help maintain its delivery timeline. The additional TBM is subject to approval


by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure. New ground testing techniques have


provided a better understanding of the extent of a complex fault zone on the route of the 17km-long headrace tunnel that will connect Snowy 2.0’s upper reservoir to its underground power station. Snowy Hydro CEO Dennis Barnes said:


“We’ve always known the fault zone was there and I’ve said in the past we will need to take action. “While the fault zone is not a surprise,


further ground testing since the project reset has revealed it is far more geologically challenging than earlier investigations indicated.” Target completion date of the project is


December 2028. Subject to planning approval, the new


Above: Pacadar UK has completed its segment production for HS2’s Northolt Tunnel. The work involved casting 59,129 segments at its Kent factory PHOTO CREDIT: PACADAR UK


UK - More recent milestones for the HS2 project include completion of segment casting for Northolt Tunnel, near London, and halfway mark being reached on one of the Bromford Tunnel tubes, near Birmingham. Pacadar UK started of concrete


segments for Northolt Tunnel in April 2022. A few months ago it completed


the manufacture of 59,129 segments, which at seven per ring make up a total of 8,447 concrete rings for the tunnel. Each segment weighs 7 tonnes on average and 130 precast segments have been produced daily by the Kent-based factory. HS2’s London Tunnels contractor,


Skanska Costain Strabag (SCS) joint venture, is constructing the Northolt Tunnel West package, which runs from West Ruislip to Green Park Way in Greenford. As part of HS2’s commitment to


reduce the environmental impacts of construction, rail sidings were brought into use once space on site became available after the initial launch of the TBMs. The segments


6 | November 2024


were then transported by rail from Kent to West Ruislip, removing 56 lorries from the roads. At the north end of HS2’s


first phase, construction of the connection to Birmingham reached a milestone in August with excavation reaching halfway on the first bore of the twin-tube Bromford Tunnel.


TBM ‘Mary Ann’, which was


launched from Water Orton in mid-2023, has built 2.8km. It is operated by Balfour Beatty Vinci (BBV). The second TBM, ‘Elizabeth’, was


launched in March. The majority of TBM, including the gantries and the centre part of the cutterhead, were reused from TBM ‘Dorothy’ which completed the 1.6km-long twin- tube Long Itchington Wood Tunnel, in Warwickshire, last year. Segments are being produced


at BBV’s pre-cast factory at Avonmouth, near Bristol. Bromford Tunnel will take trains


into Birmingham as they approach Curzon Street station in the heart of the city.


TBM is to be launched before the end of 2025. The tunnelling work has had challenges


with TBM ‘Florence’ halted after a surface depression developed above the tunnel’s transition from soft material into harder rock conditions, then more briefly when hard and abrasive rock impinged on the shield. Snowy 2.0, being built by Future


Generation JV, comprising Webuild, Clough and Lane Construction. It is Australia’s largest renewable energy project.


Tunnelling start on Hanoi metro Line 3 VIETNAM - Tunnel construction has started on Pilot Light Metro Line 3 in Hanoi. Ghella is operating two 6.6m-diameter


Herrenknecht earth pressure balance (EPB) machines – named ‘Thần Tốc’ and ‘Táo Bạo’ – to build twin tunnels for the transport network in the Vietnamese capital. The Nhon-Hanoi Railway section of


the Hanoi Pilot Light Metro Line Project is the first underground line in the city. The section is 12.5km long and runs from Nhon – in the Tay Tuu quarter, the western district of Nam Tu Liem – to Hanoi station. The line comprises 8.5km of elevated


track and a 4km-long underground section. The project includes the construction of four stations: Kim Ma; Cat Linh; Van Mieuh; and, Hanoi.


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