Gerrards Cross Tunnel
Project summary
Images of the project
Cyclops installation inside the tunnel On 30th June 2005, the Gerrards Cross railway tunnel suffered a partial collapse.
SIXENSE were approached to design, supply, install, commission and operate and emergency tunnel monitoring system, which spanned a major rail artuary on the South Buckinghamshire train line to and from central London.
It was essential to confirm the structural stability of the tunnel in order to allow mainline rail services to re-start after construction.
Jackson Civil Engineering appointed SIXENSE to design and install the monitoring system. SIXENSE mobilised to site and installed, configured and commissioned a monitoring system comprising 4 Nos. Automated Total Stations (Cyclops) and 300 nos. prism targets within 1 week.
Once Network Rail were satisfied that the structure was being closely scrutinised for any potential further movement, they were able to restart mainline rail services, reducing the financial loss to the network operator and ensuring the safety of passengers using the service.
The system was operational 24 hours a day and transmitted the recorded co-ordinates of the prisms to a central processing computer, allowing the team of on-site engineers to determine the stability of the tunnel immediately.
New Civil Engineer provides an overview of the story from project award, tunnel collapse and the HSE report online here.
