12-Meter-Diameter Machine is the Largest Ever Deployed in the UK
Fagioli has been hired for the assembly, installation and final recovery activities of a 12-meter-wide tunnel boring machine used for the main drilling operations in the construction of the new Silvertown Tunnel under the River Thames in East London.
The machine, dubbed “Jill” after Jill Viner, London’s first female bus driver, is the largest of its kind ever to be used in the UK, according to Transport for London, or TfL.
In a first phase, completed last year, Fagioli deployed LR1600 and LR1100 cranes to assemble and mount the 82-meter-long machine’s various components, which included a 260-ton main drive, a 180-ton cutterhead and protective shields weighing up to 82 tons apiece.
The units were then lowered into a launch chamber at a 25-meter elevation from ground level.
“Some of the items were partially rotated by an air hoist system in order to allow the precise insertion into the narrow shafts,” Fagioli said. “For the bigger items, the clearance from the shaft wall was only a few centimeters.”
With the main excavation work for TfL’s Silvertown Tunnel completed, Fagioli is now working on the second stage to recover the machine sections, the company said.
The components will be sent for recycling to nearby Newham or redeployed for other tunneling work.
The 1.4-kilometer crossing is London’s first for more than 30 years, TfL said. The project, designed to reduce chronic congestion in East London, is expected to be launched in 2025. A consortium made up of abrdn, Invesis, Cintra, Macquarie Capital and ecoplant won a bid to design, build, finance and maintain the tunnel.
Check out more images from the project.
MOVING ONE OF THE PROTECTIVES SHIELDS, WEIGHING UP TO 82 TONS:
HANDLING A CARRIER BEAM:
LIFTING THE 180-TON CUTTERHEAD:
