On 25th February HS2’s London tunnels programme passed a major milestone as the third TBM being used as part of the project was launched. 

TBM Emily, named after Emily Sophia Taylor who helped establish the Perivale Maternity Hospital in 1937 before becoming Ealing’s first female mayor in 1938, will be used to dig almost half of the 13.51 km (8.4-mile) Northolt Tunnel. She will bore 5.47 km (3.4 miles) under Ealing from Victoria Road Crossover Box, near HS2’s new Old Oak Common station, to Greenpark Way in Greenford.

HS2’s London Tunnels contractor, Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture, assembled the TBM underground at the Victoria Road site after being lifted in parts and lowered into a shaft.

Manufactured by Herrenknecht in Germany, TBM Emily weighs 1,700 t and has a 9.11m diameter cutterhead. The TBM is an EPB machine, which is designed specifically for the soft London clay that will be extracted from the ground.

The preparation to launch TBM Emily has been complex and HS2 Ltd remains on schedule to complete the Northolt Tunnel in 2025. 

The Northolt Tunnel will carry HS2 trains in and out of London – extending between the new Old Oak Common superhub and the outskirts of the capital at West Ruislip. The twin-bore tunnel is being built in two sections.

• Two TBMs, named Sushila and Caroline, are already constructing it eastward between West Ruislip and Greenford.
• Another two – Emily and Anne – are being used to dig the tunnel in the opposite direction from Victoria Road Crossover Box to Greenford.

Emily and Anne’s tunnel drive will cover 5.47 km (3.4 miles) from Old Oak Common to Greenpark Way Shaft where they will meet with TBMs Sushila and Caroline, who are already halfway to completing their journeys from West Ruislip. Emily was launched on 25 February and Anne – the fourth and final Northolt TBM – will launch next month.

The quartet of TBMs are all set to complete their journeys in 2025, when they will be extracted from the ground through giant shafts at Greenpark Way.

The London Clay, that will be extracted to build the tunnel, will be taken away from Victoria Road Crossover Box by conveyor, and taken to the London Logistics Hub at Willesden Euro Terminal. From there, it will be taken by rail and reused at sites in Cambridgeshire, Kent and Rugby. 

HS2 is also making progress on preparations on the separate tunnel between Old Oak Common and Euston – the line’s ultimate central London terminus.

The Atlas Road Logistics Tunnel breakthrough in January. The logistics tunnel is runs from the Old Oak Common Station box to Atlas Road logistics site and will facilitate the tunnelling operation to construct the Euston Tunnel.

Two further TBMs will be delivered to Old Oak Common later this year, and placed into the underground box, ready to begin boring the Euston Tunnel. Following the Government’s Network North announcement in October last year, the funding and delivery arrangements for the Euston Tunnel are being reviewed.

For further information please click here for a video, here and uk/65 for the tunnelbuilder archive and visit https://www.hs2.org.uk/. 08/24.