Archive for January, 2012

In a bid to get the local community involved in the mammoth Crossrail tunnelling project, Crossrail is inviting people to take part a new competition to find names for each of the tunnel boring machines due to begin tunnelling in a few weeks time.

Entrants have until February to think up a pair of names for each pair of tunnel boring machines. A Crossrail judging panel will then produce a shortlist of names and publish them for the general public to make the final decision by way of a vote.

Andy Mitchell, Crossrail Programme Director says: “This competition is a chance for Londoners and those living along the Crossrail route to suggest the names of the tunnel boring machines that will construct the major new rail tunnels under London. In years to come the winners of the competition will be able to travel on Crossrail and not only say they named the machines that built the tunnels but that they watched history unfold as tunnelling started.”

The winning entries will be announced in March and the lucky winners will be able to see their chosen names painted on the Crossrail tunnel boring machines before they head underground to dig the Crossrail tunnels beneath London. The winners of the competition will also be able to choose between Eurostar tickets or a family pass to the Merlin Theme Parks. The winners will also be invited to come along to the launch of the first pair of tunnel boring machines at the Crossrail Royal Oak portal.

The first of the TBM pairs will be launched in spring. The gigantic tunnel boring machines will tunnel from Royal Oak to Farringdon, where they are expected to arrive in summer 2013. The next pair of TBMs will be launched from Docklands later on this year, and the final pair is due to be launched from Plumstead at the end of the year.

Early tunnelling preparation work on the Crossrail project has been well underway for months now, but the end is nearly in sight and tunnelling construction is scheduled to begin in March. Crossrail will be using gigantic tunnel boring machines made by German company, Herrenknecht, and costing £14.8 billion each. Testing on the TBMs has now been completed and the first of the giant behemoths is already on its way over to the UK, ready to be reassembled for the start of work at Crossrail’s Royal Oak portal in west London.

The tunnelling section of the Crossrail project will continue night and day until the last of the tunnels have been excavated. Teams of twenty tunnelling operatives, trained at the brand new Crossrail Tunnelling Academy, will work 24/7 to ensure work stays on schedule. More than six million tonnes of earth will be excavated by the tunnel boring machines as they burrow away beneath London, most of which will be transported to Essex for use in the construction of a new nature reserve at Wallasea Island.

The tunnel boring machines will move forwards at a rate of one hundred metres per week and as they progress, concrete reinforcement rings will be put in place to line each of the Crossrail tunnels. These concrete segments are being specially constructed at a purpose built factory in west London and are so large that it takes one month for each segment to set completely hard. Approximately a quarter of a million concrete segments will be needed by Crossrail and in order to cope with the demand, a further two factories will be built.

The Crossrail project is creating many new jobs, particularly in the construction industry, but not all local businesses are pleased—many have been subjected to compulsory purchase orders in order to make way for Crossrail construction work in the area.