Celebrations in North London as the first of three Lovat TBMs driven by UK contractor J. Murphy & Sons, breaksthrough on its 6km long section of the US$60.2M, 20km long London Connection Tunnel.
The TBM, Doris has completed the drive from Elstree shaft to Canons Corner shaft in well under a year, having started boring in September 2001. The section has been driven through mostly London Clay. It has been lined to an i.d.of 3.5m with a six plate 1.2m wide trapezoidal ring. Two more Lovats are currently boring to completion on National Grid‘s 400kV electricity supply tunnel. Both the 6km drive from Cricklewood to St. John’s Wood and the 8km drive from Cricklewood to Canons Corner were scheduled to finish as T&TI went to press. The entire project is scheduled for completion in early 2005
