{"id":80232,"date":"2020-07-31T10:37:23","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T09:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=80232"},"modified":"2021-03-18T14:38:14","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T14:38:14","slug":"tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/","title":{"rendered":"HS2 prepares for arrival of tunnelling machines at Chiltern tunnel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Preparation has begun for the arrival of HS2<\/a>\u2019s first giant tunnelling machines at what will become the south portal of the 10-mile long Chiltern tunnel<\/h2>\n

The team, led by HS2\u2019s main works contractor Align JV \u2013 a\u00a0joint venture formed of three companies: Bouygues Travaux Publics<\/a>, Sir Robert McAlpine<\/a>, and VolkerFitzpatrick<\/a> \u2013 spent seven months excavating more than 160,000 m3 of material in order to create a level surface from which the two enormous machines will launch early next year.<\/p>\n

Weighing in at 2,000 tonne and stretching for 170m \u2013 the two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are being built by world-leading German tunnelling machine specialists Herrenknecht \u2013 and due to arrive at the site, near to the M25, later in the year.<\/p>\n

Alongside the excavation, a specialist team of subcontractors including Roadbridge and KV JV – formed from Keller Group plc<\/a> and VSL International<\/a> \u2013 also constructed a 17m high headwall through which the TBMs will break to begin their three-year long tunnel drive.<\/p>\n

Once work is complete, the whole construction site will be landscaped with material excavated from the tunnels and trees planted in order to blend it in with the surrounding countryside.<\/p>\n

A great team effort<\/h3>\n

Mark Clapp, HS2 Ltd\u2019s C1 senior project manager, said: \u201cOnce complete, HS2 will transform rail travel across the UK, offering fast, reliable and low carbon journey options for millions of people across the country.<\/p>\n

“The completion of the headwall and ground reinforcement is a major step towards the start of tunnelling and delivering on that goal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSafety is of course our top priority. The new Covid-19 processes and procedures<\/a> put in place by Align ensured that we were able to keep to schedule while keeping everyone safe \u2013 and I\u2019d like to thank the whole team for pulling together during what has been a difficult few months for the whole construction industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniel Altier, the Align project director, said: \u201cThe completion of the soil nailing is a very visual example of how we are preparing our South Portal site for the arrival of the TBMs later this year. It is now clear for all to see where the TBMs will start their journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a great team effort by all concerned, considering the challenges caused by Covid-19, including HS2, Align and our colleagues at Roadbridge and the KVJV.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preparation has begun for the arrival of HS2\u2019s first giant tunnelling machines at what will become the south portal of the 10-mile long Chiltern tunnel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[676,54592,473,579,81578,928,753,280],"stakeholder_rel_tag":[],"contributor_rel_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-80232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-planning-construction-news","7":"tag-construction","8":"tag-coronavirus","9":"tag-hs2","10":"tag-infrastructure","11":"tag-keller-group","12":"tag-rail-network","13":"tag-safety","14":"tag-transport"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHS2 prepares for arrival of tunnelling machines at Chiltern tunnel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Preparation has begun for the arrival of HS2\u2019s first giant tunnelling machines at what will become the south portal of the 10-mile long Chiltern tunnel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"HS2 prepares for arrival of tunnelling machines at Chiltern tunnel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Preparation has begun for the arrival of HS2\u2019s first giant tunnelling machines at what will become the south portal of the 10-mile long Chiltern tunnel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Planning, Building & Construction Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-31T09:37:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-18T14:38:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Chiltern-tunnel.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elisha Sketchley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PBC_Today\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@PBC_Today\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elisha Sketchley\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4ae66827b33682426f672d214cdd7580\"},\"headline\":\"HS2 prepares for arrival of tunnelling machines at Chiltern tunnel\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-31T09:37:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-18T14:38:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/\"},\"wordCount\":394,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Construction Processes\",\"Coronavirus\",\"HS2\",\"Infrastructure\",\"Keller Group\",\"Rail Network\",\"Safety\",\"Transport\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Planning & Construction News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2020\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/\",\"name\":\"HS2 prepares for arrival of tunnelling machines at Chiltern tunnel\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-31T09:37:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-18T14:38:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"Preparation has begun for the arrival of HS2\u2019s first giant tunnelling machines at what will become the south portal of the 10-mile long Chiltern tunnel\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"HS2 prepares for arrival of tunnelling machines at Chiltern tunnel\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Planning, Building & Construction Today\",\"description\":\"The Latest Planning, Building & Construction News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Planning, Building & Construction Today\",\"alternateName\":\"PBC Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Planning, Building & Construction Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/PBC_Today\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4ae66827b33682426f672d214cdd7580\",\"name\":\"Elisha Sketchley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/30054ee50e4135840aa91decc99b14268d346fcf23e3f41d0ecfe6c19255e936?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/30054ee50e4135840aa91decc99b14268d346fcf23e3f41d0ecfe6c19255e936?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elisha Sketchley\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/author\/elishasketchley\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"HS2 prepares for arrival of tunnelling machines at Chiltern tunnel","description":"Preparation has begun for the arrival of HS2\u2019s first giant tunnelling machines at what will become the south portal of the 10-mile long Chiltern tunnel","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"HS2 prepares for arrival of tunnelling machines at Chiltern tunnel","og_description":"Preparation has begun for the arrival of HS2\u2019s first giant tunnelling machines at what will become the south portal of the 10-mile long Chiltern tunnel","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/","og_site_name":"Planning, Building & Construction Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/","article_published_time":"2020-07-31T09:37:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-18T14:38:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":780,"url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Chiltern-tunnel.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elisha Sketchley","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@PBC_Today","twitter_site":"@PBC_Today","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/"},"author":{"name":"Elisha Sketchley","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4ae66827b33682426f672d214cdd7580"},"headline":"HS2 prepares for arrival of tunnelling machines at Chiltern tunnel","datePublished":"2020-07-31T09:37:23+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-18T14:38:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/"},"wordCount":394,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["Construction Processes","Coronavirus","HS2","Infrastructure","Keller Group","Rail Network","Safety","Transport"],"articleSection":["Planning & Construction News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2020","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/","name":"HS2 prepares for arrival of tunnelling machines at Chiltern tunnel","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-07-31T09:37:23+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-18T14:38:14+00:00","description":"Preparation has begun for the arrival of HS2\u2019s first giant tunnelling machines at what will become the south portal of the 10-mile long Chiltern tunnel","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/tunnelling-machines-chiltern-tunnel\/80232\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"HS2 prepares for arrival of tunnelling machines at Chiltern tunnel"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/","name":"Planning, Building & Construction Today","description":"The Latest Planning, Building & Construction News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization","name":"Planning, Building & Construction Today","alternateName":"PBC Today","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"Planning, Building & Construction Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/","https:\/\/x.com\/PBC_Today"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4ae66827b33682426f672d214cdd7580","name":"Elisha Sketchley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/30054ee50e4135840aa91decc99b14268d346fcf23e3f41d0ecfe6c19255e936?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/30054ee50e4135840aa91decc99b14268d346fcf23e3f41d0ecfe6c19255e936?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elisha Sketchley"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk"],"url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/author\/elishasketchley\/"}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-10 06:21:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80232\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80232"},{"taxonomy":"stakeholder_rel_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stakeholder_rel_tag?post=80232"},{"taxonomy":"contributor_rel_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor_rel_tag?post=80232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}