This month will see the arrival on site of the 11.77m diameter Herrenknecht TBM to be used on the 2.3km long, twin-tube hard rock section of the Dublin Port Tunnel. JV, Nishimatsu/Mowlem/Irishenco will put the TBM to face in May from the launch shaft at Whitehall from where it will bore through mostly limestone to a shaft at Fairview. Upon completion, the TBM will be turned to bore the second tube back to the launch shaft. Rates of 10m/day are expected. A second Herrenknecht, an 11.77m diameter triple backhoe, will arrive on site in April for a July start of the 300m twin-tube soil section from the same launch shaft in the opposite direction to Whitehall Church.
