The concrete tunnel lining segments that will form the HS2 tunnel between Euston and Ruislip are to come from a factory next to the River Medway in Kent.
The tunnels to be lined will run between West Ruislip and Euston station and will have a total length of 26 miles, the same length as Crossrail. The tunnel boring machines are due to start digging from the West Ruislip portal next year, and the construction of the first tunnel will be completed in 2024.
As the TBM digs, it assembles the tunnel behind using tunnel segments which are delivered to the site, and it’s a concrete factory owned by Pacadar UK that will be manufacturing the HS2 tunnel lining segments at their factory in the Isle of Grain in Kent.
Pacadar UK recently supplied 7.5 miles of tunnel segments on the Thames Tideway Project from the Isle of Grain site.
Production of the tunnel segments will begin in January next year and the materials will then be delivered to HS2’s TBM launch site in West Ruislip by rail – looping around South London to get to the site.
So early next year you could be waiting for a commuter train and see a load of HS2 tunnel segments passing through your station to build a new railway in North London.
Padcar site in Kent (c) HS2
I worked on Isle of Grain site for TML, making segments for Channel Tunnel.