By lyndamyer
Excavating the 7m-diameter and 1.8km long outfall tunnel has been started by TBM Emmeline and it is currently in full-bore mode 33m under the seabed of the Bristol Channel with a 19 m per day average progress. This TBM owes its name to Lady Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence a women’s rights activist who was born in Bristol.
The outfall tunnel is part of the system that will pump water circa the Hinkley Point C’s power station to retain the reactors at the right temperature.
The digging process of the first intake tunnel with 3.5 km length and under the Bristol Channel, was completed by the first TBM, named Mary, in previous December.
The second intake tunnel’s excavation will commence as soon as the equipment of TBM Mary be transported for launching the TBM Beatrice. Beatrice’s name was chosen by Cannington Church of England Primary School, Year 5 Beech Class in honor of Beatrice Shilling (1909 – 1990) an engineer, born in Waterlooville, who designed the RAE Restrictor to avoid Merlin engines in Hurricane and Spitfire fighter jets cutting out during nosedives.
The Hinkley Point C nuclear project in Somerset UK, which consist of the building of the 3 marine tunnels totaling more than 9.5km in length and 7 m in diameter, has been funded by Balfour Beatty in 2017 with a 18bn budget.
