Over the next three weeks 27 deliveries will be made to the site compound in Minffordd.
The TBM will excavate the National Grid tunnel that will carry 400kV electricity cables to replace the existing 3km overhead line across the Dwyryd Estuary.
The VIP project in Eryri National Park aims to reduce the visual impact of the overhead electricity line across the Dwyryd Estuary from Minffordd to Llandecwyn. It includes constructing two new tunnel head houses, which will provide access to the tunnel, along with a sealing end compound to connect the underground cables with the remaining overhead line.
Once assembled, the TBM will measure 166m long and weigh 436 tonnes. Tunnelling is scheduled to start early next year and be completed in mid-2026. The pylons and overhead line are due for removal in 2029.
National Grid and its contractor Hochtief UK have worked with the North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agent, Welsh government, North Wales Police, local authorities and a specialist haulage contractor, Fracht Group UK, to plan the route and timings to minimise disruption to local people and traffic where possible.
The Herrenknecht TBM was transported from Germany by sea to Immingham Docks in north-east Lincolnshire and from there it is being taken by road to North Wales. Of the 27 deliveries, 21 will be Abnormal Indivisible Load (AIL) movements, with eight loads requiring a full police escort and 13 loads requiring partial police escort. The other six deliveries will be normal HGVs which do not require any police escort.
There will be between one and four deliveries per day during the delivery period.
The Eryri VIP project is one of five in England and Wales, which include the Dorset National Landscape and Peak District National Park which have been completed, the North Wessex Downs National Landscape which started work this year, and a potential project in the Cotswolds National Landscape which is in planning.
