Second tunnel boring machine gets to work
The second, and largest, of the three tunnel boring machines (TBM) needed to create the tunnels for HPC’s cooling water system has started the construction of the outfall tunnel by installing the first concrete rings. Known as Emmeline, the second TBM will excavate 1.8 km of tunnel, some 33 metres below the seabed. And while Emmeline is just starting her journey, the first TBM known as Mary has now completed her work to complete the first tunnel for the water cooling system. The tunnelling milestone was reached on December 9 after the installation of more than 2,300 concrete rings, made up of around 14,000 different segments.
Teamwork sees great progress on pipework
The MEH (Mechanical, Electrical and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning)) Alliance is reaping the rewards of great collaboration with some fantastic pipework progress. A key member of the Alliance, Bilfinger is an industrial engineering expert contracted to complete essential design, fabrication and installation activities for several nuclear-classified pipework systems at HPC. It‘ll be helping to support the permanent installation works for the Raw Water Storage (HOR) Liaison Gallery (HGE) by delivering 4km of fabricated stainless steel and carbon steel pipework spools. Bilfinger’s works at HPC will create 350 new jobs in the UK, including specialist roles at Warrington, Humberside, Bristol and Somerset.
Turbine team complete another milestone
The conventional island team have successfully begun the pouring of concrete inside the first 16m high steel turbine generator columns. While a44m3 pour sounds small in comparison to some of the project’s larger pours, it was far from straightforward to complete, requiring a purpose-built scaffold system, a special self-compacting concrete mix, adjustable ‘tremie’ pipe system (in order to maintain the concrete placing drop height) and a high level of co-ordination of various teams.
Tony Atkinson, Senior Delivery Lead – Conventional Island, said: “The pour was a culmination of a lot of planning, collaboration and hard work. Everyone carried out the plan step by step and it all went very smoothly.”
In total, there will be 15 columns in the turbine hall, constructed in the same way as the first. The columns supporting the turbine generator set that
will be critical in generating low carbon electricity.
Taken from The Point December 2020