A new 2.2km tunnel beneath the River Thames between Kent and Essex has been completed 49 days ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n
The work is part of The Great Grid Upgrade project to install new high-voltage electricity cables, running from Gravesend to Tilbury.<\/p>\n
The Caroline Bore Machine (CMB) has completed a 2.2km tunnel 49 days ahead of schedule. Picture: National Grid<\/p>\n
The new tunnel will replace the Thames Cable Tunnel, which dates back to the 1960s and is nearing the end of its operational life.<\/p>\n
Project director Mark Farmer described the breakthrough by the tunnel-boring machine (TBM), named Caroline, as a “fantastic achievement”.<\/p>\n
He said: “Everyone involved has worked together to deliver an exceptional performance safely and efficiently, helping us reach this important milestone sooner than anticipated.”<\/p>\n
The project is expected to play an important role in supporting Britain\u2019s future electricity needs as demand for cleaner power continues to grow.<\/p>\n
More than 10,000 concrete tunnel segments have been installed to create the tunnel lining, while more than 16,000 tunnel rings were constructed during the drive.<\/p>\n
In addition, more than 40,000 cubic metres of chalk has been excavated, with most of the material now set to be reused at the Port of Tilbury.<\/p>\n
The project will now move on to its next stage.<\/p>\n
Work will include removing the giant tunnel-boring machine, completing construction inside the shafts and headhouses, and preparing for the installation of the new high-voltage cables.<\/p>\n
Mr Farmer said the scheme would help strengthen the network “as demand for cleaner electricity continues to grow”.<\/p>\n
The Grain to Tilbury project is replacing the existing Thames Cable Tunnel. Picture: National Grid
The Grain to Tilbury project hopes to improve the electricity and power network in Kent and Essex. Picture: National Grid<\/p>\n
School children were offered the chance to name the tunnel-boring machinery.<\/p>\n
Taking inspiration from influential women in engineering, the TBM was named after Dame Caroline Haslett, who was president of the Women’s Engineering Society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new 2.2km tunnel beneath the River Thames between Kent and Essex has been completed 49 days ahead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,1397,59,3862,192,191,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-795148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-environment","tag-gb","tag-gravesham","tag-human-interest","tag-kent","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}