Microtunneling project Eindhoven Central Station 

No two projects are the same, as was demonstrated once again when we started work at Eindhoven Central Station.

For this project, we had initially designed a pilot guided auger plan. However, when we started the work we ran into an unknown obstacle, which turned out to be an old locomotive turntable. This meant that an pilot guided auger drilling was out of the question and we developed with our client to work out a new drilling plan. A new deeper pilot guided auger drilling would not be possible because of the groundwater level and an open excavation was not an option either. In the end, we decided on a Microtunneling of 99 metres (concrete jacking pipe ø874).

Another special detail of this project was that the drilling route was not entirely free of UXO; bombs from the Second World War might still be present. Due to time constraints, an out-of-service period for investigation from ground level was not possible. Together with one of our partners, we came up with a solution: the HDD UXOscope, which meant that we could successfully complete the investigation on a small deck. After that, the drilling could be carried out safely.