HS2 has officially launched the first of 10 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) on the £100bn project.
The 2,000 tonne machine, said to be the largest ever used on a UK rail project, will dig the first of a pair of 10-mile long tunnels under the Chiltern Hills over the next three and half years.
Named Florence after the nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale, it was built by Herrenknecht at its factory in south-west Germany and will be operated by Align, a joint venture of Bouygues, Sir Robert McAlpine and VolkerFitzpatrick.
A second machine, Cecilia - named after the astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin - will launch next month to excavate the second tunnel in Buckinghamshire.
By Dave Rogers2021-05-13T05:00:00+01:00
Chief executive Paul Hamer tells Building he wants firm to take advantage of government’s spending commitment with construction
Sir Robert McAlpine is planning to more than double its civil engineering and infrastructure business in the coming years to take advantage of the government’s focus on construction and its levelling-up agenda.
The firm is best known as a building contractor and has been behind some of the most high-profile building schemes in the past 15 years including Arsenal’s Emirates stadium, the main stadium for the 2012 Olympic Games and the redevelopment of the Broadgate complex in the City of London.
HS2 will launch its first giant tunnelling machine on Thursday (HS2/PA)
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HS2 will launch its first giant tunnelling machine on Thursday.
The 558ft (170m) long contraption will dig a 10-mile (16km) tunnel under the Chiltern Hills, starting from a site in Buckinghamshire near the M25 motorway.
It will work non-stop for three years and is one of 10 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) being deployed between London and the West Midlands for Phase 1 of the high-speed railway.
HS2 will launch its first giant tunnelling machine on Thursday.
The 558ft (170m) long contraption will dig a 10-mile (16km) tunnel under the Chiltern Hills, starting from a site in Buckinghamshire near the M25 motorway.
It will work non-stop for three years and is one of 10 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) being deployed between London and the West Midlands for Phase 1 of the high-speed railway.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the launch of the first TBM is “a landmark moment for the project”.
He went on: “The work has truly begun on taking HS2 northwards.
“The tunnels these machines dig will ensure the benefits of our new high-capacity, high-speed railway run to the great cities of the North and Midlands, forging stronger connections in our country, boosting connectivity and skills opportunities, and transforming our transport links.”
The UK’s largest contractors claimed just over £10m in furlough cash in the three months to the end of February, new figures from HMRC have revealed.
Analysis of HMRC’s furlough data found that the combined claims by CN100 contractors totalled up to £3.9m in February, up from a maximum of £3.7m in the previous month. In the three months to the end of February, companies in the CN100 had claimed up to £10m, up from £6.1m in the two months to the end of January.
HMRC publishes monthly lists of all UK companies that have placed staff on furlough via their payroll schemes; the figures for February were published on 6 May.