• Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Blackpool - Manchester Electrification

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

I

Inox

Member
Joined
2 Jan 2011
Messages
137
Hi

pic from twitter.



CRsFkXvWUAAni0P.jpg:large


Didn't know there was a pneumatic drill sent it - thought it was only the drill heads that were part of Fillie that were working away.

Also thought the concrete filled the tunnel.....

video here: http://www.railengineer.uk/2015/10/20/video-farnworth-tunnel/
 
Last edited:
A

AM9

Veteran Member
Joined
13 May 2014
Messages
16,021
Location
St Albans
Inox said:
Hi

pic from twitter.



CRsFkXvWUAAni0P.jpg:large


Didn't know there was a pneumatic drill sent it - thought it was only the drill heads that were part of Fillie that were working away.

Also thought the concrete filled the tunnel.....

video here: http://www.railengineer.uk/2015/10/20/video-farnworth-tunnel/
Click to expand...

That's an interesting picture because it shows quite a void above the foamed concrete temporary fill. I can imagine that the overburden gets quite unstable as the brick arch is eaten away, possibly causing the arch to partially fail.
 
P

Ploughman

Established Member
Joined
15 Jan 2010
Messages
3,099
Location
Near where the 3 ridings meet
What to me is of more concern is the size of the voids outside the Arch ring above the operators left shoulder.

Peckers or Pneumatic drills are in common use on excavators in all civils projects.
Could be classed as a standard attachment.
 
I

Inox

Member
Joined
2 Jan 2011
Messages
137
Peckers. yeah, that was the word i was looking for.

No i meant i thought that fillie herself had an arm with a rotating angled cutting head on it. Does anyone know then the use of the pecker started?
 
I

ironstone11

Member
Joined
3 Jan 2013
Messages
217
Ploughman said:
What to me is of more concern is the size of the voids outside the Arch ring above the operators left shoulder.
Click to expand...

Looking at the quality of the brickwork in the arch and the voids behind, it is amazing that the tunnel has survived for so long.
 
GRALISTAIR

GRALISTAIR

Established Member
Joined
11 Apr 2012
Messages
10,479
Location
Preston Lancs
ironstone11 said:
Looking at the quality of the brickwork in the arch and the voids behind, it is amazing that the tunnel has survived for so long.
Click to expand...

And we just have to know that over the next 50 years there will be many more tunnels like this - way past the end of their useful lives and will need similar treatment.
 
themiller

themiller

Established Member
Joined
4 Dec 2011
Messages
1,380
Location
Cumbria, UK
Inox said:
Peckers. yeah, that was the word i was looking for.

No i meant i thought that fillie herself had an arm with a rotating angled cutting head on it. Does anyone know then the use of the pecker started?
Click to expand...

I believe that Fillie is not your idea of a TBM with a rotating head like the Channel Tunnel or Crossrail TBS. Fillie appears to be a shield for two excavators (one above the other) which cut the ground to allow the shield to advance. The back end of Fillie is where the concrete segments are inserted after the shield moves forward sufficiently. Because only a short length of the new tunnel is exposed before it is lined, the ground either side will provide sufficient support for a short time. This is why, when it hit running sand, the plan seems to have gone to ratsh*t as a void developed which couldn't self support.
 
W

WatcherZero

Established Member
Joined
25 Feb 2010
Messages
10,272
Brickwork actually looks to be in pretty good condition too from that photo, some of the bricks have been pushed up and out of the arch presumably where they were injecting grout into a cavity behind.

Also interesting from that video that the running sand issue was solved by excavating a shaft from the surface suggesting it was a localised phenomenon.
 
Last edited:
F

furnessvale

Established Member
Joined
14 Jul 2015
Messages
4,897
Geeves said:
Its all very clever stuff, glad to see they are making good progress. In regards to the demise of the machine, the gent who took us round stated that while the structure of the tbm will be scrapped all reusable parts like the rams for example can be refurbished and reused in the next Tbm :)
Click to expand...

Yes, it is quite possible that such items were not new to Fillie in the first place.
 
I

Inox

Member
Joined
2 Jan 2011
Messages
137
themiller said:
I believe that Fillie is not your idea of a TBM with a rotating head like the Channel Tunnel or Crossrail TBS. Fillie appears to be a shield for two excavators (one above the other) which cut the ground to allow the shield to advance. The back end of Fillie is where the concrete segments are inserted after the shield moves forward sufficiently. Because only a short length of the new tunnel is exposed before it is lined, the ground either side will provide sufficient support for a short time. This is why, when it hit running sand, the plan seems to have gone to ratsh*t as a void developed which couldn't self support.
Click to expand...

I understand the difference between Fillie and a TBM

I'm taking about the cutting head on this articulated boom as shown here:

CLd48DWXAAABZku.jpg
 
S

swt_passenger

Veteran Member
Joined
7 Apr 2010
Messages
34,241
themiller said:
I believe that Fillie is not your idea of a TBM with a rotating head like the Channel Tunnel or Crossrail TBS. Fillie appears to be a shield for two excavators (one above the other) which cut the ground to allow the shield to advance.
Click to expand...

I think many (if not most) people here are aware it is not a conventional TBM, but a tunnelling shield, the subject has been discussed in this thread on a number of previous occasions, but some users still use TBM as shorthand.

I guess its a bit of a 'Hoover' abbreviation...
 
QueensCurve

QueensCurve

Established Member
Joined
22 Dec 2014
Messages
2,195
snowball said:
There's a 10-second video clip taken inside Fillie on the NP Twitter page. Spoil can be seen moving up the conveyer.

https://twitter.com/networkrailnp
Click to expand...

Any chance of a direct link to the particular tweet?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
snowball said:
There's a 10-second video clip taken inside Fillie on the NP Twitter page. Spoil can be seen moving up the conveyer.

https://twitter.com/networkrailnp
Click to expand...

Found it: https://twitter.com/gsfoamconcrete/status/656454822930063360
 
S

snowball

Established Member
Joined
4 Mar 2013
Messages
8,144
Location
Leeds
If I knew how I would, but I can't get a link by clicking on it. It was posted by GS Foam Concrete. Maybe you can find it here:

https://twitter.com/gsfoamconcrete

Edit: overtaken by the edit to the previous post!

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I see the Rail Engineer video confirms my estimate of 4m/day for the current rate of progress. Bonfire Night is not impossible!
 
Last edited:
QueensCurve

QueensCurve

Established Member
Joined
22 Dec 2014
Messages
2,195
LDECRexile said:
Joe Callaghan has kindly sent a shot of the effects of deveging (tree felling) north of Farnworth station.

I've added it to his album here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157651953947345

and to the Combined Volume here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/albums/72157648767927083

Thank you Joe.
Click to expand...

There is a bridge to the immediate South of Farnworth Station, visible in the pictures, which is apparently in the way of the new course of the up line. Is this bridge due for renewal, or is it deemed compliant (subject to ridiculously high parapet ect)?
 
S

snowball

Established Member
Joined
4 Mar 2013
Messages
8,144
Location
Leeds
QueensCurve said:
There is a bridge to the immediate South of Farnworth Station, visible in the pictures, which is apparently in the way of the new course of the up line. Is this bridge due for renewal, or is it deemed compliant (subject to ridiculously high parapet ect)?
Click to expand...

That's Cemetery Road bridge. The old bridge has been demolished and replaced, as regular readers of this thread will know, but a temporary bridge was first built alongside it to carry pipes and cables during the work, and is still there at present, hiding much of the new bridge from the camera.

Edit: The new bridge is due to be opened in November. It would be nice if it could be opened before Fillie breaks through, so that the public could get a grandstand view of the breakthrough.
 
Last edited:
Philip Phlopp

Philip Phlopp

Established Member
Joined
31 May 2015
Messages
3,003
snowball said:
Edit: The new bridge is due to be opened in November. It would be nice if it could be opened before Fillie breaks through, so that the public could get a grandstand view of the breakthrough.
Click to expand...

They'll need a grandstand - the parapets are 1.8m.
 
Bullfield WEst

Bullfield WEst

Member
Joined
1 Jan 2013
Messages
288
Currently "Tweeting" live from Fille with a video clip also..

Northern Programme ‏@NetworkRailNP 3m3 minutes ago

We're tweeting from the front end of Britain's biggest tunnel boring machine inside #FarnworthTunnel ??????
 
G

geoffk

On Moderation
Joined
4 Aug 2010
Messages
3,927
Location
Exeter
I wonder if local residents will get the chance to walk through the new tunnel before track laying starts, as they did at Holme.
 
LNW-GW Joint

LNW-GW Joint

Veteran Member
Joined
22 Feb 2011
Messages
21,902
Location
Mold, Clwyd
If it happens on Monday it will trump the launch of Chiltern's new Marylebone-Oxford Parkway service, at least as far as local media is concerned...
 
S

snowball

Established Member
Joined
4 Mar 2013
Messages
8,144
Location
Leeds
There's another 20-second video on the Twitter feed showing Fillie's lower digging arm at work. There'a an artificial-looking horizontal feature in the stuff she's cutting through, possibly the invert (base) of the original tunnel.

https://twitter.com/networkrailnp
 
I

Inox

Member
Joined
2 Jan 2011
Messages
137
No offence to Network rail or Fillie, but, I'd be quicker with a shovel.

Doubt I'd be able to go 24 hours, though. ;);):D cheers for the vid.
 
Bullfield WEst

Bullfield WEst

Member
Joined
1 Jan 2013
Messages
288
I've beeen told by a mate who lives above the station that he has had a post through the letter box today, saying... Fillie will break through on the weekend of the 24th.
Sat or Sun Boys!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top