Warwickshire and Northamptonshire tunnels
The counties will benefit from three HS2 tunnels at Long Itchington Wood, Chipping Warden and Greatworth.
Long Itchington Wood tunnel
Long Itchington Wood tunnel is unique as it is the only tunnel on the HS2 Phase One route that uses two tunnelling construction methods. The majority of the tunnel will be constructed using a tunnel boring machine and the remaining section will be built using the ‘cut and cover’ method. This is where a tunnel ‘box’ is constructed within the cutting and then the space around the box is filled to create an area of land on the surface. The length of the Long Itchington Wood tunnel is just over a mile.
Watch apprentice tunnel designer Shehan's update from Long Itchington.
Chipping Warden and Greatworth tunnels
The Chipping Warden tunnel and Greatworth tunnel are both green tunnels 1.5 miles and 1.6 miles in length. This means a cutting is created in the ground, a tunnel ‘box’ is constructed within the cutting and then the space around the box is filled to create an area of land on the surface.