Unveiled: The huge machine that will drill Scotland's biggest ever waste water tunnel right here in Glasgow

The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM)

This is the huge boring machine that will drill Scotland’s biggest ever waste water tunnel between Craigton and Queen’s Park in Glasgow.

The 1000 tonne, 180 metre-long, contraption will create the three mile long Shieldhall Tunnel which will be five times longer than the Clyde Tunnel and big enough to fit a double decker bus inside.

The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) will create a passage 4.7 metres in diameter as part of the £100million Scottish Water project.

It is a key part of the utility company’s £250m, five-year programme of work, launched in 2013, to improve river water quality and the natural environment and tackle flooding - the biggest investment in the Greater Glasgow area’s waste water infrastructure in more than a century.

The TBM’s construction, by German company Herrenknecht, reached a key stage recently when the cutting head was put in place at the front of the machine and the factory test was conducted.

Weighing more than 50 tonnes, the head completed its first rotations during a visit by members of the project team to Herrenknecht’s headquarters in south west Germany.

Tuesday 8 December 2015 

Link: http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/14132988.Unveiled__The_huge_machine_that_will_drill_Scotland_s_biggest_ever_waste_water_tunnel_right_here_in_Glasgow/