HS2’s tunnelling into Birmingham reaches halfway point

The construction of HS2’s gateway to Birmingham takes a leap forward as the huge 125-metre-long tunnel boring machine (TBM) digging the first bore of the Bromford Tunnel reaches the halfway point.

The 1,600 tonne TBM, named ‘Mary Ann’ - the real name of Warwickshire-born author George Eliot - has excavated and built 1.75 miles of the first bore of the tunnel since it started digging from a large underground box in Water Orton last year.

Driving around 30 metres underground towards Washwood Heath in Birmingham, the TBM has excavated under the Park Hall Nature Reserve and River Tame and is now passing under Castle Vale. It will continue adjacent to and under the M6 before breaking through at Washwood Heath early next year.

An expert tunnelling team have been working around the clock on shifts to operate the TBM, which also builds the tunnel as it excavates. A total of 20,797 concrete segments will be put in place by the machine, making 2,971 concrete rings to form the tunnel.

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0:00 Introduction
0:32 The tally hut
0:44 On board the PSV
1:01 Controlling the TBM
1:41 Tunnel progress update
2:00 The ring build area
2:38 Bromford Tunnel Shaft
3:19 Washwood Heath Portal
3:32 Portal progress update
4:09 Current works
4:44 Future works
5:11 The retained cut
6:02 Outro

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