Hi, everyone, I'm Adrien. I'm the senior engineer
for the down track tunnel on HS2 C1.
We are about to on-board Cecilia, the tunnel boring machine,
which is about to mine this 10-mile drive.
Follow me.
So we are now standing on Cecilia.
We are at the back of the one hundred and seventy
metre long TBM tunnel boring machine,
which is about to achieve the drive.
This is in this position
at the back of the machine where we extend all our utility network
and slurry network that will supply all the material required
towards the tunnel boring machine.
Let's continue our visit.
I want us to stop here to show you an impressive innovation on this machine.
The segments which are, which are used to build the ring will be supplied
using the multi-services vehicles that will come here.
The segments are stacked when they are delivered,
and we use this robot to pick up the wood wedge
which are installed in between the segments
to avoid any workforce to access this danger area.
That's an impressive technology which we are impressed
that they've launched and deployed on this machine.
We are now at the back of gantry one.
This is where the magic happens.
We're just the first gantry at the back of the tunnel boring machine.
It's very noisy. And we have all the hydraulic, pneumatic
and slurry equipments which are working just behind us.
That huge slurry pump just on my left hand
side is pumping up to 1500 metre cube an hour of slurry and material
that is being excavated in the excavation chamber.
Just at the back of the gantry two, we are using this segment crane
to lift the segments from the MSV, which will be just
sitting at the back of us, and we'll drop the segments
one by one on the segment feeder just below our feet.
The segment feeder will bring the segments to the build area
where we are going now.
We are now standing on the top of the segment erector.
This is the area where we erect our rings.
This is where we build the tunnel.
Literally.
One ring is composed of seven segments,
each of them weighing up to 8.5 tons.
And these segments will be lifted and put in position using this equipment.
We will lift the segments and install them
with an extreme precision up to a millimetre.
Let's go just in front of us
in the, in the manlock,
just the last door before being in contact with the ground.
We are now next to the screw conveyor.
This is, this is the screw that picks up all the material
and the screw that picks up all the material from the excavation chamber
straight into the big box behind us where we mix it with water
before pumping it with the big pump we saw a few minutes before.
We are now in the core of Cecilia. This is where the magic happens again.
We see now the cutter heads turning forward by these ten motors
that we see in green.
Now the machine is advancing, and we'll just go upstairs
next to the manlock, which is the last two doors before
entering the excavation chamber.
Behind this door, we are in contact with the excavation slurry.
And this is the excavation chamber.
This manlock are the last piece of equipment
that we use to maintain the pressure in the excavation chamber.
We'll use this chamber to either
compress or decompress the atmospheric pressure
to allow someone to access in the excavation tunnels.
We see now the tunnel at the back of us, the TBM has to go north
and we are mining below the Chiltern Hills
for the next three years.
Let's go now in the operation cabin where everything is controlled.
Come in.
We are now in the control cabin.
This is where the engineers, in coordination with the power
will make decisions to steer the machine
and to adjust the excavation parameters.
Just behind your back on the top screen, you'll see what's happening
in the excavation chamber.
The shift engineers,
Michael, the TBM pilot,
is the man controlling the machine
under the supervision of George, which is managing this shift.
This is the machine running the TBM alongside with 17 miners on the ground.
It's a very noisy area here. We just hear the flints
hitting the slurry pipes on our return line,
and we have all the hydraulic and electric motors on my right hand side
giving all the power to the machine to drive forward.
Our mining team will need to live on this machine
for the next three years, so all the welfare is provided
on the machine, the canteen,
and obviously the most important, the coffee machine.
Last but not least, I hope we'll never get
to sit in this room during an emergency,
but we are now in the rescue chambers
where the mining team can be, can shelter in case of emergency.
This is now the end of the visit.
I've been very pleased to walk you around Cecilia.
We're now going to mine towards the Chiltern Hills
for the next three years.
I was happy to have you on board. Thank you.