I had the incredible opportunity to witness the breakthrough of Elizabeth, the 125-metre-long Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), at Washwood Heath marking the completion of HS2’s Birmingham approach tunnels and the full 28 miles of deep-bore tunnelling between London and the West Midlands. Launched from Water Orton in March 2024, Elizabeth and her sister TBM Mary Ann have successfully completed the twin 3.5-mile Bromford tunnels beneath the M6 and the eastern outskirts of Birmingham. Together, these engineering giants excavated over 1.8 million tonnes of material and installed 5,804 concrete ring segments, with the excavated spoil helping to shape the new railway’s landscape. During this year-and-a-half-long journey, the team navigated under major infrastructure including the M6 motorway, National Grid assets, and the River Tame at depths of up to 40 metres. The scale of coordination, engineering precision, and teamwork behind this success truly showcases what the UK infrastructure sector can achieve. An extraordinary milestone in modern tunnelling and a proud moment to witness first-hand. #HS2 #HighSpeedRail #UKInfrastructure #Engineering #Tunnelling #Teamwork #Birmingham #CivilEngineering #InfrastructureDevelopment

The Beaver River Bridge project replaces an aging steel truss with dual cast-in-place segmental bridges — boosting traffic efficiency and supporting today’s heavier commercial loads. Read the full story at the link below! bit.ly/4hn5XDp S&B USA Construction & Fay #bridgeconstruction #pennsylvania #roadsandbridges

Governor Hochul has announced the completion of Phase 1 of the MTA's Park Avenue Viaduct replacement. As part of the project, which made use of an innovative moveable gantry solution, 128 bridge spans were replaced over the course of 19 weekends without disruption to Metro-North services. https://ow.ly/oMrg50X93Xv

🚄 Marcon Place Underbridge, Hackney Downs 🚄 ABM Precast Solutions supplied 18 precast units for the rapid rebuild of Marcon Place Underbridge, delivered in just 100 hours for Network Rail Anglia and Octavius Infrastructure. The project was ‘Highly Commended’ at the Network Rail Partnership Awards and now supports four tracks and platforms, minimising disruption and strengthening this vital rail corridor. Great teamwork and engineering all round! #RailInfrastructure #PrecastConcrete #BridgeReplacement #NetworkRail #EngineeringExcellence #TeamWork #ABMPrecastSolutions https://lnkd.in/eTCEEyp4

Westbound Interstate 90 near Front Street North in Issaquah will have lane reductions this weekend for bridge repairs. The $7.4 million project by the Washington State Department of Transportation includes pavement rehabilitation, asphalt replacement, expansion joint updates, bridge deck repairs, and new waterproof membranes. These improvements target the circa 1970 bridges to enhance safety and infrastructure longevity. - Westbound I-90 reduced to a single lane near Front Street North this weekend - $7.4 million project rehabilitating 2.5 miles of pavement and bridge structures - Work includes asphalt removal, expansion joint replacement, and waterproofing Expect traffic impacts as critical bridge repairs continue to improve I-90 safety and durability. Read more: https://lnkd.in/d5vnceFv #PRESWERX #WashingtonConstruction

Great to see another huge milestone on HS2 with the 125-metre-long tunnel boring machine (named Elizabeth) breaking through at Washwood Heath, marking the completion of HS2’s Birmingham approach tunnels and all 28 miles of deep-bore tunnelling between London and the West Midlands. Launched near Water Orton in March 2024, Elizabeth joins sister machine Mary Ann in completing the twin 3.5-mile Bromford tunnels that will carry trains beneath the M6 and eastern outskirts of Birmingham. Together, the two TBMs have excavated more than 1.8 million tonnes of material and installed 5,804 concrete ring segments, with the spoil being used to help landscape the new railway’s approaches to the city. During their year-and-a-half-long mission, the team on board the 1,600-tonne machines worked at depths of up to 40 metres. They navigated Elizabeth and Mary-Ann under the M6 motorway, key National Grid infrastructure and the River Tame, which they crossed four times. Meanwhile, separate teams were focused on supplying the concrete ring segments and removing the spoil as well as beginning work on the cross passages and the ventilation shaft at Castle Vale. All of this marks an extraordinary feat of engineering and collaboration across the supply chain. #HighSpeedRail #UKInfrastructure #EngineeringExcellence #HSRG #Rail #Railway #HighSpeedRailGroup #RailInfrastructure #tunnels #TBM #tunnelboringmachine

How do you move the world’s oldest in-situ cast-iron railway bridge? 🤔   The answer is very carefully – and that’s exactly what our TRU East Alliance colleagues did over the weekend!   Our teams constructed a bespoke arched framework to support the 191-year-old Crawshaw Woods Bridge near Leeds, before slowly manoeuvring the Grade II-listed structure in one piece using a specialist 128-wheel self-propelled modular vehicle.   Following the successful movement of the bridge, the railway line was restored and re-opened to trains on schedule on the Monday morning.   The cast iron arched girders, bridge deck, parapets, and original iron railings will now be repaired and renovated off-site while additional layers of stone are added to the bridge’s abutments to raise its height by 1.5 metres.   This will create room for us to electrify the Transpennine main line between York, Leeds and Manchester, allowing faster, greener and quieter electric trains to run. ⚡   Once complete, the restored structure will be carefully reinstated in Spring 2026, preserving its character while making space for a modern, electrified railway.    A massive well done to everyone involved in completing this delicate operation safely and efficiently. 👏 #TranspennineRouteUpgrade #TRU #OnTrackToBetter Network Rail Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom Murphy Siemens SYSTRA VolkerRail Ltd

HS2 CELEBRATES FINAL BIRMINGHAM TUNNEL BREAKTHROUGH Breakthrough was made on HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd’s Birmingham approach tunnels this week, marking the completion of major tunnel excavation between London’s Old Oak Common and the West Midlands. The 125m-long TBM Elizabeth, named after the 19th century philanthropist Elizabeth Cadbury, was launched near the Warwickshire village of Water Orton in March 2024. It finished its journey at Washwood Heath. Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) used two Herrenknecht AG TBMs to dig the 5.6km-long Bromford tunnel that will carry high-speed trains under the M6 and eastern outskirts of the city. TBM Mary Ann broke through in May this year. Together, Elizabeth and Mary Ann excavated more than 1.8 million tonnes of material and installed 5,804 concrete ring segments for the twin, eastbound and westbound tunnels. The spoil – made up of various grades of Mercia Mudstone – is being used to landscape the railway on the approaches to the city. Read more online: https://lnkd.in/ehdS3Cba Follow the British Tunnelling Society for the latest insight on tunnel-related matters To learn about the benefits of joining the British Tunnelling Society click here: https://bit.ly/3r0MPoU

A significant part of England's history, and especially Manchester's, was the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal from 1887 to 1893. A major effort to establish direct shipping access to Manchester coming off of the tail end of the long depression and while the growing city was looking to bolster its economy. ❓ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹? While today it makes up a standard part of business for Manchester, at the time there was a tangible strain felt by the city's businesses. As Manchester relied on the shipping docks of Liverpool and the railway companies that connected the two locations for freight. This is part of the reason why the direct ship canal was proposed. 🕐 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹 When construction was finally approved, development began in 1887. The 36 mile route was assigned Thomas Walker as a contractor and helmed by Edward Williams as the chief engineer until his death in 1889. After which the project continued under his executors. Winters, floods and rains battered the effort but after 6 years, and £15 million (equivalent to £2,107,000,000 in 2023), the canal was completed. More than 41 million cubic meters of material were excavated in its construction. Requiring the talents of on average 12,000 workers with a peak of 17,000! 180 locomotives were required, alongside 600 trucks/wagons, 124 steam powered cranes, 192 other steam engines and 97 steam powered excavators. All to shift the material needed to allow the canal's connection to reach out to sea. The project even included the world's first ever swing aqueduct, the 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁, which was put into place as the size of ships using the new canal put them at risk of striking the old aqueduct. 🔆 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗱𝗮𝘆 It remains the longest river navigation canal and the world's eighth longest ship canal. With traffic still pouring into the area, it has stood the test of time as an engineering feat. And, more so, a feat of true commitment from the thousands who worked to create it. It's truly inspiring to see that together, we can do more than build constructions that last for decades. We can reshape the world around us to make better lives for all of us. #CivilEngineering #Historic #ManchesterCanal #HistoryPost #MegaProject.

🚧 A major highways framework for South Wales is on the horizon. The South Wales Trunk Road Agent (SWTRA), hosted by Neath Port Talbot Council, has announced plans to tender a £384m framework in June 2026. The four-year deal, starting April 2027, will cover trunk road maintenance across South Wales and be split into two lots: - Civils & ancillary works - Surfacing & ancillary works This framework will play a key role in maintaining and managing the SWTRA network across Cardiff, Swansea, the Valleys and wider South West Wales. https://lnkd.in/etckiMJF