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Tunnel engineering TBM Victoria

Tunnel engineering.

Profound knowledge and experience in the design and delivery of permanent and temporary underground facilities.

This includes construction ranging from soft ground to rock using a wide variety of methods, including traditional mining techniques, cut and cover, tunnel boring machines, shafts and sprayed concrete lining. With proven expertise in road, hydropower, rail, nuclear, metro mining, water transfer and utility applications we are responsible for the design of new facilities and the maintenance and refurbishment of existing. We provide a full range of feasibility, design and management services for tunnel engineering projects.

PROJECT EXAMPLE
CROSSRAIL STEPNEY GREEN CAVERNS
Crossrail SCL tunnel civil engineering consultant

SCL consultant for the construction of two 16m wide, 12m high and 70m long caverns in soft ground within central London.

PROJECT EXAMPLE
PADDINGTON STATION BAKERLOO
LINE LINK

We devised the optimum means of making the link between Crossrail with the Bakerloo line at Paddington, to reduce risk and generate a better passenger experience. 

PROJECT EXAMPLE
JUBILEE LINE TUNNEL LINING REPLACEMENT

Option identification, design and trial of innovative means of replacing tunnel lining during engineering hours.

PROJECT EXAMPLE
THAMES TIDEWAY TUNNEL
PROJECT EXAMPLE
FARNWORTH RAIL TUNNEL
REPLACEMENT
PROJECT EXAMPLE
FARNWORTH RAIL TUNNEL
REPLACEMENT
PROJECT EXAMPLE
NORTHERN LINE EXTENSION

Following a critical review of Thames Waters' proposals, we provided strategic expert advice on geotechnics, tunnel boring machine selection, construction strategies, pre-cast concrete segment supply and groundwater management throughout the scheme’s development

To enlarge an existing rail tunnel we designed a solution that allowed a new tunnel to be built over and through it, keeping the adjacent railway tunnel operational. The solution was an 8.9m diameter shield, the largest tunnelling machine used in the last 40 years and the largest ever used for a railway tunnel in the UK.

Tunnel designer for permanent and temporary tunnel linings including the challenging step-plate tie-in of the extension with the existing tunnels. OTB devised an innovative method for constructing the step-plate junction, reducing the amount of excavation, reducing risk, and improving safety.

PROJECT EXAMPLE
NETHERTON CANAL TUNNEL, DUDLEY

Constructed in the 1850s, this 2.8km long brick-lined tunnel is one of the largest and deepest canal tunnels in the UK.  OTB designed a RAMARCH reinforced SCL lining to replace the failing brickwork.

PROJECT EXAMPLE
CROSSRAIL EASTERN RUNNING TUNNELS

We were the contractor's tunnelling and geotechnical consultant for six TBM drives totalling 22km of tunnels constructed using earth pressure balance machines through central and east London. 

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