Skip to main content

Take a breather with Herrenknecht’s ventilation shaft boring machine

For fast underground construction of slot holes with small diameters within highway tunnels, Herrenknecht is highlighting its Boxhole Boring Machine. The BBM is for slot holes, or boreholes, such as ventilation shafts, either inclined or vertical, with diameters of up to 1.5m and lengths of up to 60m. The machines are designed for stable rock with compressive strengths of 180 Megapascal or more. Herrenknecht, based in Schwanau, southwest Germany, uses pipe jacking technology for its BBM. A drilling un
February 10, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
For fast underground construction of slot holes with small diameters within highway tunnels, 2592 Herrenknecht is highlighting its Boxhole Boring Machine.

The BBM is for slot holes, or boreholes, such as ventilation shafts, either inclined or vertical, with diameters of up to 1.5m and lengths of up to 60m. The machines are designed for stable rock with compressive strengths of 180 Megapascal or more.

Herrenknecht, based in Schwanau, southwest Germany, uses pipe jacking technology for its BBM. A drilling unit at the head of the pipe string is pressed forward from the launch point. Further jacking pipes are installed one after the other in the pipe string and pushed forward, thus lengthening the jacking route.

A cutterhead excavates the rock at the tunnel face, which then falls through the centre of the rig due to the force of gravity. Removed material exits through a muck chute running inside down the length of the jacking pipes. After each jacking stroke, the drilling process is stopped briefly to secure the pipe string and the drilling unit. Then the next jacking pipe can be installed at the bottom of the pip string in the jacking frame.
 
When the desired drilling length is reached, the drilling unit is retracted and jacking pipes are removed one by one until the complete pipe string is dismantled. The drilling unit is retracted back into the jacking frame and a crawler unit can easily move the unit to the next job.

All videos

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Tough tunneling challenge in Italy
    May 25, 2016
    New levels of efficiency and sophistication are being seen in the latest earthmoving machines coming to market - Mike Woof writes. The earthmoving equipment segment accounts for one of the largest parts of the total market for construction machines. All around the world excavators and articulated dumptrucks (ADTs) can be seen operating on construction sites. With a massive array of manufacturers offering these machines, it is no surprise that the segment is hotly contested. In developed markets firms are en
  • Norway’s massive Rogfast Tunnel project
    December 11, 2018
    The world's longest and deepest road tunnel is underway in western Norway - Adrian Greeman reports
  • Motorway's tricky cable installation
    February 6, 2012
    The UK is now benefiting from the installation of sophisticated automated traffic management equipment and information signs on its motorway network. But with heavy traffic volumes on these roads, novel techniques have had to be implemented. One such operation, organised by client The Highways Agency and its consulting engineer A.One+, has recently been underway on the M56 motorway between Junctions 9 and 16 in north-west England under the Triple Package Advanced Works designation. To minimise traffic distu
  • CTB forges ahead with Naylor Denlok pipes under A556 upgrade
    September 30, 2016
    Recent trenchless installation of surface water drainage pipes was used underneath a UK road improvement scheme to allow highway upgrades to proceed unimpeded The A556 Knutsford to Bowdon Improvement Scheme, being undertaken by Costain for its client Highways England, is valued between €197 million and nearly €265 million. The 7.5km section will transform the A556 trunk road between the towns of Knutsford and Bowdon into a modern dual carriageway. Costain will also be making the existing A556 into a single