Daisy the Driller makes a memorablebreakthrough
A GIANT boring machine dubbed Daisy the Driller has broken through to finish the first of the construction of Scotland’s largest sewer.
For the past 15 months a giant state-of-the-art tunnel boring machine (TBM) has been creating a 3.1 mile tunnel underneath the city’s South Side.
Now the Shieldhall Tunnel work has reached its end point and broken through in Queen’s Park.
At what is a landmark moment in the project, Douglas Millican, Scottish Water’s chief executive, said: “We are delighted to have completed the construction phase of the Shieldhall Tunnel, which is the flagship project in Scottish Water’s investment in the waste water infrastructure in the Greater Glasgow area – the biggest in well over a century.
“The tunnel will improve water quality in the River Clyde and reduce the risk of flooding in a number of communities.
“With Daisy the Driller having reached her destination, we have completed the most challenging part of the project.”
Road closures were in place until last month near Queen’s Park, causing havoc for drivers and shop owners. But Scottish Water bosses said the disruption was necessary for the construction of the tunnel, which runs from Craigton to Queen’s Park.
On Thursday night the TBM completed the installation of the last of more than 3200 concrete rings that form the tunnel before its giant cutting head emerged at the bottom of a 16 metre-deep shaft to cheers and applause from some of the workers involved.
Roseanna Cunningham, the Environment Secretary who launched the TBM in July 2016, said: “The Shieldhall Tunnel is an extraordinary feat of modern engineering which builds on the endeavours of those pioneers who sought to improve Glasgow’s waste water network more than a century ago.”