Florence and Cecilia are four miles in on Chiltern dig
THE pair of machines boring HS2’s 10-mile tunnel under the Chiltern hills reached the fourmile point in October. Florence and Cecilia were launched from the southern end of the twin bores in Summer 2021.
More than 44,000 concrete segments have so far been used to create the tunnel linings and a further 68,000 will be installed prior to the TBMs breaking out at the northern portals in two years’ time.
The two Chiltern TBMs are operated by Align (a joint venture comprising Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine, and VolkerFitzpatrick). Both have crews of 17 people, working in shifts, supported by over 100 staff on the surface.
HS2 Ltd’s head of tunnel engineering Martyn Noak said: “It’s great to see how much progress has been made by Florence and Cecilia – and the teams excavating the five shafts – and I’d like to thank everyone involved in getting us this far.”