Lovat Receives Order for TBM for Croydon Cable Tunnel in the UKMorgan Est has contracted with Lovat for the purposes of design and manufacture of a 3.6 m-diameter EPB TBM for the Croydon cable tunnel. This will be the latest TBM to complement Morgan Est's fleet of Lovat TBMs which range from 2.3 to 4.4 m of diameter. Morgan Est is to build a 10 km cable tunnel on behalf of National Grid in Surrey, England. The 3 m-inner diameter tunnel will be comprised of rings of 1.2 m-long 6-piece trapezoidal precast reinforced concrete segments (produced by Morgan Est at their new segment manufacturing facility in Kent). The tunnel will be built between two existing substations in Beddington and Rowdown and will replace two 275 kV cables that currently run underneath local roads and a major highway. Visit www.lovat.com and www.morganest.comThe EPB TBM will be running at a depth from 8.3 m to 83 m above the tunnel crown. An EPB pressure up to 2.5 bar is expected. The entire tunnel alignment is through local upper chalk with frequent occurrences of flint and mixed gravel. The cutting head will be powered by four 113 kW (452 kW total) water-cooled Lovat standard Variable Frequency Drive electric motors which will provide the cutting head with 1,200 to 2,300 kNm of torque from 1.8 rpm to 3.4 rpm. The TBM is designed for operation with EPB pressures up to 8 bar, an instantaneous rate of advance of 100 mm/min and a target completion of three 1.2 m-long rings per hour. The TBM is scheduled for delivery in January 2007. Click uk/47. Visit www.nationalgrid.com 36/06.