TBM Lizzie ready to get busy

HS2 Ltd has revealed that the first of two miniature tunnel boring machines (TBMs) that will be used near Great Missenden will be named Lizzie.

The name was chosen by students from the nearby The Misbourne school. Pupils from Year 8 visited the site in late April to see the arrival of the 19-tonne TBM, which they suggested naming after Her Majesty the Queen.

At 8.9 metres long, the TBM is far smaller than the 170-metre machines (named

Florence and Cecilia) that are currently excavating the tenmile twin-bore Chiltern Tunnel.

Due to be launched in the next few weeks, Lizzie will dig a 300-metre drainage tunnel close to the north portal of the Chiltern Tunnel at South Heath.

A second identical machine, to be named Marsha after Afro-American gay and transgender rights activist Marsha P Johnson, will be launched at the end of May to complete the remaining 450 metres of the drainage tunnel. HS2 LTD.