Pictured above, in Herrenknecht‘s German factory, is the cutterhead of the 8.2m diameter Herrenknecht Mixshield TBM soon to start boring on Section 2 of the UK’s $7.3bn Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The TBM is programmed to go to face on the 10th July on Contract 320, the Thames Tunnels, and is the first of two Herrenknechts that will bore the 2.5km long twin tubes. The tailskins have already been assembled on site at Swanscombe, Kent. The construction team for this section of the UK’s largest current tunnelling project is Hochtief/Murphy JV. CTRL 2 consists of some 20km of twin tube tunnels and will see eight TBMs boring under London. Four TBM manufacturers will be involved in the project, Kawasaki will provide two 8.2m diameter TBMs to the 7.5km contract 220, Wirth won the order for two 8.2m diameter TBMs to the 4.7km contract 240, whilst Lovat scooped the two 8.2m diameter TBMs award to the 5.3km contract 250
