Roll out TBM 250!
Mar 2009
- Since its inception, LOVAT has custom designed and manufactured TBMs for more than 700 tunneling projects worldwide. Building on the past 36 years of innovation and success, LOVAT is proud to announce the recent dispatch of its 250th machine system.
- Accepted by Costain of the UK, the LOVAT MP132SE EPBM will be used to excavate tunnels for the West Ham Flood Alleviation Scheme in East London for the city water authority Thames Water. In 1987 Costain was one of the first contractors to use a LOVAT TBM in the UK. Costain's fleet of LOVAT TBMs grows to five with this latest purchase.
- The LOVAT TBM will excavate and erect a precast concrete segmental lining for a 3,303m long tunnel on a maximum gradient of 0.5%. The TBM will pass under a local primary school and was christened 'Theodora' by one of its pupils. The geology anticipated along the tunnel alignment consists of Tertiary deposits including Woolwich & Reading Beds and Upnor and Harwich Formations. Cover to the tunnel crown varies from 15m to 17m. The entire tunnel alignment is below the groundwater table, which rises 10-14m above the tunnel invert.
TBM 250 on its way to London
- The 3.4m soft ground TBM is equipped with chromium carbide protected LOVAT ripper and scraper teeth. The cutterhead is driven by two 188kW water-cooled electric motors coupled to variable displacement pumps generating maximum torque and speed values of 1,830kNm and 4.8 rev/min respectively.
- To mark this milestone a commemorative benchmark for the TBM manufacturer founded by Richard Lovat as a family business in 1972 the TBM was painted in LOVAT s original colours and carried the logos of major beneficiaries of the LOVAT technology and its applicability to soft ground conditions in the UK. Of the 250 TBMs built by LOVAT, nearly 50, or more than 20% of the output, have been delivered and used in the UK. Following completion of in-plant testing and client acceptance, the 250th TBM was shipped to the UK in February and start of excavation is in progress.
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LOVAT
Tribute to the company's founder Richard Lovat (download pdf)
