FOUR months after beginning work on creating the second bore of the Long Itchington Wood Tunnel in Warwickshire, Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Dorothy broke through at its southern portal.
Named after Dorothy Hodgkin, the first British woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the 2000-tonne TBM, which is 125 metres (410 feet) in length, began its mile-long journey excavating the southbound bore in November last year. It had completed the northbound in July 2022 and was dismantled, returned to the northern end, and reassembled over three months in order to start its second drive.
Spoil reused
About 500,000 tonnes of mudstone and soil were removed during the tunnelling process (carried out by HS2 joint venture contractor Balfour Beatty VINCI), which will be recycled for use in the construction of embankments for the high speed route.