By rosebell
TBM Mary Ann, which is the first TBM to breakthrough on HS2’s Bromford Tunnel, is being stripped down to prepare for its next tunneling mission.
In May, this machine completed the 5.6km drive between North Warwickshire and Birmingham.
Dusring the disassembling process of this 1,600-tonne machine, in the first stage in the process the TBM’s 8.62m diameter cutterhead was lifted out of the shaft in Birmingham by a 700-tonne crawler crane.
On Friday, May 30, the 120 tonnes cutterhead was lifted out of the 22m-deep tunnel portal at Washwood Heath in north Birmingham in 90 minutes.
In order to dismantling the 125m-long machine, next to the portal in Washwood Heath, before it is returned to the manufacturer, Herrenknecht, a team of 15 engineers working for HS2’s construction partner, Balfour Beatty Vinci, will carry the process during next three months.
The TBM, which spent 652 days and nights working underground to excavate the first bore of the Bromford Tunnel, is expected to be refurbished and adapted to meet the technical requirements of its next tunneling job.
While excavation of the second section of the Bromford Tunnel is now undergoing by TBM Elizabeth, it is expected to break through later this year.
