Our origins are rooted in tunnelling, dating back to our founders’ involvement in the development of London’s underground rail system at the turn of the 20th century. Today, we continue to be involved in the development of the most prestigious tunnel projects, including:
- Rail, metro and light rapid transit
- Highways
- Airports
- Water and wastewater
- Utility tunnels
Our tunnelling capability is built on over 100 years of experience. This has equipped us with the design expertise and practical understanding needed to bring our client’s projects from concept to final delivery, whatever the type:
- Bored tunnels in hard rock or soft ground
- Tunnel boring machines
- Segmental lining
- Sprayed concrete lining (SCL or NATM)
- Drill and blast tunnel excavation
- Cut-and-cover tunnels
- Immersed tubes
- Trenchless methods, micro-tunnelling, pipejacking and directional drilling
- Shaft sinking in soft ground or rock
- Refurbishment of tunnels
Our leading edge skills
We're a world leader in tunnel ventilation and fire/life safety. Some of our people are leading figures on international committees responsible for tunnel safety.
We provide leading edge skills in:
- Ventilation, aerodynamics and cooling
- Smoke modelling, prediction and removal
- Fire/life safety and evacuation procedures
- High performance lighting and communications
- Environmental monitoring and control systems
We have the wide range of specialist expertise for tunnel projects around the company. We provide in-house foundations and geotechnics expertise that includes:
- Predicting and monitoring tunnelling induced ground movement to protect against building damage
- Full design capability in all forms of cut‑and‑cover tunnel construction techniques
- Assessing and designing ground improvement techniques
- Numerical modelling of soil/structure interaction and groundwater/seepage flows
- Developing and using computerised geotechnical
Our key projects
- HS2
- Crossrail
- Victoria Station Upgrade
- National Grid London Power Tunnels
- Shuakevi Hydropower
- Bergen Bybanen
- A3 Hindhead Bypass
A3 Hindhead Bypass, UK - The A3 Hindhead bypass linking London with Portsmouth takes the daily stream of 30,000 vehicles via a 6.7km dual carriageway bypass allowing The Devils Punchbowl – a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – to be returned to its natural beauty. The bypass includes a 1.5km twin bore tunnel, each with two lanes and cross passages every 100m.
Delhi Metro, India - we've been engaged in the design of Delhi Metro since its inception. The first lines opened in 2005 with most remaining lines opening in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. We have provided detailed design services for 20 underground and 21 elevated stations with connecting tunnels and viaducts.