First part of 1,700 tonne TBM was extracted over weekend
Engineers have lifted the first part of an enormous HS2 tunnel boring machine (TBM) from the ground after the successful completion of its journey.
The 1,700-tonne machine 鈥� named 鈥楨mily鈥� 鈥� is one of four TBMs which excavated the Northolt tunnels and is the third so far to be lifted this year.
The TBM , arriving in an underground reception chamber at HS2鈥檚 site in west London.
TBMs cut through the ground, line the walls with a ring of huge concrete segments and grout them into place before moving forward to create the next ring.
During her journey, Emily excavated 775,000 tonnes of London clay and installed 17,514 concrete tunnel segments.
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On Saturday, the first part of Emily 鈥� which is being lifted out of a shaft in sections using a large gantry crane 鈥� was lifted out of the Green Park Way site.
The 9.11m diameter cutterhead, front and middle shield extracted so far weigh in at 880 tonnes.
In keeping with tradition, the machine was named after Emily Sophia Taylor who helped establish the Perivale Maternity Hospital in 1937 before becoming Ealing鈥檚 first female mayor in 1938.
The remainder of Emily will be removed later this summer.
A total of five tunnelling machines are due to complete their journeys this year.
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