Late last year, Mammoet delivered the first tunnel boring machine (TBM) to the Thames Tideway Tunnel project in London.
When fully assembled the machine, named Rachel after engineer and women's employment rights activist Rachel Parsons, will weigh 1,350 tonnes.
The machine was transported 850 km from Germany via Mammoet's European headquarters in Schiedam, the Netherlands.
"Minimising disturbance at every step, that's been the aim of this project," explained Matthew Gent, managing director for Mammoet in the UK. "Using the River Thames to bring in the machinery was the most efficient solution. The Mammoet engineering team worked closely with the manufacturers, Herrenknecht, and Tideway's project managers on site to ensure that the machine was delivered on time with the minimum impact on the local area."
Mammoet provided the flat top barge for the marine transportation and utilised SPMTs for onshore operations. The heavy lift and transport solutions provider will use its 1,200-tonne capacity and 750-tonne capacity cranes to reassemble the machinery onsite in London ready for tunnelling to commence.
The TBM will measure 147 m long and 8.13 m in diameter. It will be used to drive the 7 km west section of the project, which will build a tunnel to capture the overflow from the sewer system.
Tunnelling is expected to commence soon on a major infrastructure project, which will tackle sewage pollution in the River Thames and will use six machines to build the 25 km tunnel.
