TOWARDS the end of October, tunnel boring machines (TBMs) Emily and Anne were lowered in sections into a 25-metre deep (82 feet) ancillary shaft at Victoria Road in Ealing, West London.
It will be their starting point at the beginning of 2024 for the excavation of the 3.4-mile tunnel under Ealing to Greenpark Way in Greenford, which will take around a year to complete.
Emily is named after midwife (and later Ealing mayor) Emily Sophia Taylor, who provided help for women who could not afford maternity care. Anne is named after educational reformer, philanthropist and anti-slavery campaigner Lady Anne Byron.
Manufactured by Herrenknecht in Germany, the assembled TBMs will each weigh 1700 tonnes and have eight back gantries each, carrying all the systems required for the tunnelling operation.
The 336-tonne middle shield of tunnel boring machine Emily is lowered into the ancillary shaft at Victoria Road, Ealing. It and TBM Anne will bore the 3.4-mile tunnel from here to Greenpark Way in Greenford. HS2