On Wednesday night this week the 160-tonne cutterhead for HS2’s Long Itchington Wood tunnel was transported by road back to the tunnel’s north portal site in Warwickshire.
After HS2’s first tunnel breakthrough by tunnel boring machine (TBM) Dorothy at the south portal site in July this year, the front part of the TBM has been dismantled and transported back to the tunnel’s north portal in a special transport operation managed by the plant and logistics team of Balfour Beatty Vinci (BBV), main contractor for that section of the HS2 line.
The 10-metre diameter cutterhead was transported upright on a 12 metre-long, 48-wheel self-propelled trailer, going from the south portal site, along the A425, through the village of Ufton and back to the north portal site where it had started its digging.
The TBM's 120 tonne tail skin, also 10 metres in diameter, was also moved in the same operation.
The 2.5-mile journey took 180 minutes, with the loads arriving at their destination at 3am on Thursday 22nd September.
Eight other large pieces from the TBM’s front shield and middle shield, have already been transported by specialist equipment, which was used specifically to avoid any temporary alterations to the road layout through Ufton.
The rest of the 120-metre long TBM will be pulled back through the one-mile tunnel by a special ‘caterpillar’ system, at a pace of 150 metres per day. Once all the parts are back at the north portal, the TBM will be reassembled before starting the second bore later this year.
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Balfour Beatty Vinci logistics manager Tom Comer said: “This has been an intricately planned operation, using specialist equipment to transport these large, heavy pieces of machinery safely and carefully, over a 2.5-mile route, and onto our north portal site. The whole team was proud to see the operation culminate in such an impressive sight, as the huge TBM cutterhead completed its short journey.
“We worked closely with the local authority, Warwickshire Police and British Transport Police, and would like to thank them for helping us ensure a safe operation, carried out at night to minimise disruption to the local community as much as possible.”
HS2 senior project manager Alan Payne added: “The BBV logistics and site teams have done a great job to make this a safe and successful operation. We’re now looking forward to the reassembly of the TBM over the coming weeks, and the start of the second bore of the tunnel later this year. When we celebrate the breakthrough next summer, this will be the first fully completed twin bore tunnel on the HS2 project.”
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