As the first anniversary of work on the U.K.’s 225-km London-Birmingham high-speed railroad (HS2) is reached, news of a major bentonite leak of more than 1,500 cu m at the project’s first tunnel has revived opposition to the project.
The leak occurred as the first two of 16 panels forming the diaphragm wall were being excavated near an 80-m deep emergency and ventilation shaft about 35 km west of London. It is the first of five shafts on the 16-km Chiltern twin tunnels, being built by the Align joint venture of Bouygues Travaux Publics, VolkerFitzpatrick and Sir Robert McAlpine.