Video: Major milestone for HS2 tunneling team's work near south Warwickshire village

The high-speed rail project’s tunnelling team celebrated the milestone breakthrough of tunnel boring machine ‘Dorothy’ as the giant cutterhead broke through the wall of the Long Itchington Wood Tunnel south portal today (Thursday March 30).
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HS2’s tunneling team is celebrating a major milestone in the work it is doing near a village in south Warwickshire.

The high-speed rail project’sf tunnel boring machine (TBM) ‘Dorothy’ the giant cutterhead broke through the wall of the Long Itchington Wood Tunnel south portal today (Thursday March 30).

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Launched in November last year, it has taken just four months for the 2,000 tonne TBM to complete its one-mile second bore, making this the first complete twin-bore tunnel of the HS2 project.

HS2's BBV team celebrate the breakthrough. Picture courtesy of HS2.HS2's BBV team celebrate the breakthrough. Picture courtesy of HS2.
HS2's BBV team celebrate the breakthrough. Picture courtesy of HS2.

Members of the Balfour Beatty VINCI tunnelling team were on site to witness the dramatic moment when the huge cutterhead broke through the reception box headwall.

This marks the culmination of a three-year operation, from site set-up and TBM assembly, the first TBM drive and breakthrough, and now completing the second breakthrough.

David Speight, HS2 Ltd’s delivery Director for Main Works Civils on Phase One said: “I’d like to congratulate the 400-strong Balfour Beatty VINCI tunnelling team for achieving this fantastic milestone on the HS2 project.

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"This is a key moment in HS2’s operation in the Midlands, which is now reaching peak momentum with over 400 businesses in the region already winning work, and 9,000 jobs supported.

“We’re looking forward to celebrating more milestones as work gathers pace on key structures such as the Delta Junction viaducts, Birmingham Curzon Street station, Interchange station and Washwood Heath Depot, creating more opportunities for local businesses and people.”

The tunnelling team has been working around the clock in shifts for four months to operate the TBM, which has put 791 concrete rings in place, with each ring made from eight two-metre-wide segments that each weigh up to eight tonnes.

The tunnel, which has been built in order to preserve the ancient woodland above, forms a key element in how HS2 is managing environmental impacts through the design of the railway, protecting Britain’s precious wildlife habitats.

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Long Itchington Wood is classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) with complex ecosystems that have taken hundreds of years to establish.

Excavation of the twin bore tunnel has produced around 500,000 tonnes of mudstone, which is being processed at an on-site slurry treatment plant.

From there, it is separated out before being transported by a 254 metre conveyor to be used to build embankments along the route of the railway, removing the equivalent of around 30,000 HGVs from local roads, reducing impacts on the local community and cutting carbon.

Over the next few weeks, work will begin to dismantle the shield from the TBM, while the rest of the machine will be pulled back to the start of the tunnel and disassembled, ready for transportation to East Birmingham.

There, the TBM will be fitted with a new shield so that it can begin a 3.5 mile tunnel bore in early 2024, between Water Orton in Warwickshire and Washwood Heath in Birmingham.

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