One of HS2’s custom-made tunnel boring machines (TBM) has completed the first tunnel breakthrough along the London to Birmingham section of the line, having made the breakthrough at Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire late last week after eight months underground.

Long Itchington Wood Tunnel is a 1.6 km (1 mile), a twin-bore tunnel that runs under Long Itchington Wood. Galldris have been working on the Long Itchington Wood site in partnership with Balfour Beatty Vinci since December 2020, where our scope of work included working on the North Portal where we carried out RC works that allowed the TBM to be launched.

Furthermore, we carried out South Portal RC and Groundworks to facilitate TBM reception into the D-Wall Box including the excavation of over 20,000m3 of material.

Speaking about the tunnel breakthrough, Galldris Managing Director Tom Kerins said:

“We are delighted to have successfully delivered complex civil engineering works in partnership with Balfour Beatty Vinci to enable this first tunnel breakthrough on the prestigious HS2 project to achieve completion.”