Heathrow Cargo Tunnel
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Heathrow Cargo Tunnel is a road tunnel in the
London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is the largest and westernmost borough in West London, England. It was formed from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the ceremonial county ...
, London, UK that serves London
Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...
.


History

In December 1968, the tunnel first opened, to connect Terminals 1, 2 and 3 to the newly opened cargo terminal at Heathrow, and it cost £2 million to build. The tunnel is not open to the public; it is used only by vehicles with security clearance to drive airside. It is used for cargo movements, and transfer of passengers to and from Terminal 4 (In 1986, Terminal 4 was built next to the cargo terminal). From 1972, a London Transport bus service (route 82) operated through the tunnel. In 1986, when Terminal 4 opened, a number of other bus routes then also passed through the tunnel. This was an unusual situation, because anyone could board the bus, and travel "airside" without going through any security checks. In 1989, in the interests of security, all public bus services were withdrawn from the tunnel. All public buses now enter the central area through the main tunnel.


Design and construction

The cargo tunnel is bi-directional; it has one bore, carrying one lane in each direction. Each lane is wide, with a clear height of . The tunnel consists of approximately of circular bored tunnel plus of rectangular cut-and-cover tunnel at each end. Its total length is . The bored tunnel segments are precast concrete, with a internal diameter and thick. The segments are expanded directly against the ground, which is
London Clay The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 56–49 million years ago) age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for its fossil content. The fossils from t ...
. The bored section of the cargo tunnel is notable among tunnelling engineers, for having been constructed with a remarkably thin cover of solid clay above it (minimum cover clay beneath the Terrace gravels). There is one
sump A sump is a low space that collects often undesirable liquids such as water or chemicals. A sump can also be an infiltration basin used to manage surface runoff water and recharge underground aquifers. Sump can also refer to an area in a cave ...
in the tunnel, at a low point about north of the south portal. The tunnel is one of the few in the United Kingdom that is ventilated by a fully transverse system – it has an air supply duct in the invert of the tunnel, and an air extract duct in the crown of the tunnel. Extraction and supply fans are sited in underground chambers at the north end and the south end of the tunnel, at the
Tunnel Boring Machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore throu ...
(TBM) launch and retrieval chambers. Consulting Engineer for the works was
Sir William Halcrow and Partners Halcrow Group Limited was a multinational engineering consultancy company, based in the United Kingdom Halcrow was one of the UK's largest consultancies, with origins stretching back to 1868. The UK-based consultancy specialised in the provision ...
, with Hoare Lea & Partners advising on electrical and mechanical services. The tunnel was built by
Taylor Woodrow Construction Taylor Woodrow Construction, branded as Taylor Woodrow, is a UK-based civil engineering contractor and one of four operating divisions of Vinci Construction UK. The business was launched in 2011, combining civil engineering operations from the ...
, with E&M fitout by Halliday Hall and Aerex. The cargo tunnel was the only privately operated road tunnel in the United Kingdom until March 2005, when the Heathrow Airside Road Tunnel was opened to airside traffic next to it.


Notes


Bibliography

* ''Above Us The Skies: The Story of BAA'' – 1991 (Michael Donne – BAA plc), p. 15 * Muir Wood, A. M. & Gibb, F. R., ''Design and Construction of the cargo tunnel at Heathrow Airport, London,'' Paper 7357, ''Proc. Instn. Civ. Engnrs.,'' Vol 48, 1971 * "Discussion of paper 7357", ''Proc. Instn. Civ. Engnrs.,'' Vol 48, 1971


External links

*
Photo Cargo Tunnel entrance 1973

Photo Egyptair Il-18 from public no. 82 LT bus entering cargo tunnel airside 1972
{{London Heathrow Airport Cargo Tunnel Road tunnels in England Transport in the London Borough of Hillingdon Tunnels completed in 1968 Tunnels in London 1968 establishments in England Cargo Tunnel