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HS2’s Dorothy starts to dig second tunnel bore

HS2’s 125-metre-long Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Dorothy has been relaunched to dig the second of the one-mile twin bores under Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire. 

Originally launched in December 2021, Dorothy became the first TBM on the HS2 project to complete a tunnel drive in July 2022. 

Operated by teams from the Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) Joint Venture, it is the sixth TBM to be launched on HS2 but the first to have been reassembled and reused.

When Dorothy breaks through again next summer, Long Itchington Wood Tunnel will be the first twin tunnel to be completed on the route between London and the West Midlands.

Four other TBMs are currently in the ground, digging twin bore tunnels under the Chilterns and in Greater London. 

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  • Güntürk Üstün - 30/11/2022 09:05

    This is a crucial step in the construction of Phase One’s northern section. By the way, let's remember that HS2’s TBM Dorothy is named after Dorothy Hodgkin, the first British woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Dr. Güntürk Üstün

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