Drove my first TBM on the construction of the Victoria Line Tube in London was back in the 1960s. Operated a walking tunnel header machine to build a high voltage cable tunnel from New House in South Wales to Aust in England under the Wye and Severn Rivers with a midway shaft in the Beachley Army Apprentice's grounds. Have also worked on many other tunnels around the world using differing types of TBMs. Completing my career in 2015 on the KL Metro Malaysia. Where several Herrenknecht machines were used plus two Chinese look alike Herrenknecht machines were used. A project in Denmark had four Howden TBMs delivered by barge right to the job sites for the Storebaelt rail tunnels, A Lovat TBM EPB was delivered by rail from their Mississauga works for the CN rail tunnel under the St Clair river, the cutter head had to be later cut in two to be returned to the works by road for bearing repairs. Other than the London tube machines. TBMs are only good for one project, due to high wear and differing soil types. Thanks for posting and reminding this old man of his past career that took me to fantastic places around the world. Now retired to Vietnam and growing fruit. Happy New Year to you, stay safe in 2025.
Wow, you're definitely the guy to go to for details on TBMs! Thank you for all the history. I did wonder about the London Underground, and you were there back in the 1960s. HS2 are currently installing their two TBMs for the Euston tunnel project in London at the moment. They're absolutely colossal at 1,250 tonnes each. Not sure how they were delivered to HS2, but given their size it was probably in smaller segments than this one featured in the video. Having water access for a barge nearby is handy for larger machines like that! Happy New Year and enjoy your retirement growing fruit in Vietnam! Have to say, that sounds like a nice way to spend your time.
I live 5 miles from where the work is taking place. The biggest hold ups were when the council were removing all the street furniture at both ends of the Porthmadog by pass prior to the drilling machines coming through. Never saw any of the police escorts come through unfortunately.
Jaw-dropping footage of that creative clash of two gigantic loads on such a tiny narrow, winding road! 😵💫Wow Cobra! Wonderful to hear they are tunneling UNDER the estuary to relocate the high-voltage power lines. Excellent for any migrating wildlife too!👍
1st clip, freezing conditions, sleat, snow, ice and these fools are all riding each other bumpers, even up on the police car with do not pass.... Where's the 2 second rule even in the 2nd clip hell on bad weather you at least want to be triple that at least, new cars or not, no wonder so many crashes. Its a much easier life when you leave a gap and can actually see and not blindly following, debris on the road, animals crossing, crash ahead etc etc etc it all helps to leave that gap
Strange terminology in the title. "Oversize house"? You make it sound as if the house is at fault. I'm pretty sure if the house was being built 'oversize' this would have been caught in either the planning or construction phase. If the house had indeed blocked the transportation of this particular load then that would have been a transportation planning error, NOT the presence of the "oversize house". Saying all that though, great video, that driver has some skills lol Just.... maybe work on your title wording in future so they don't seem so 'clickbaity' 👍
I was referring to the Oversize Load being a transported house coming the other way 😂 I've changed the title a few times to see how it could be worded and each time I'm not happy with it - but I would like to mention both the drilling machine and the oversize house transport in the same title. I'll try some more. Any suggestions? Thank you!
@@CobraEmergency To be honest, I thought that 'oversize house' meant the house right on the corner with the slightly overhanging roofline (I've come a cropper to one of those in Switzerland driving a double-deck coach (and in my defense, I WAS trying to reverse it and a trailer around a hairpin bend at the time to avoid another large vehicle coming the other way lol)). I wouldn't have guessed it meant a static caravan travelling in the opposite direction. The fact that those two exceptional loads were able to pass each other in a tiny village is seriously impressive though, maybe a title somewhere along those lines? It's up to you buddy, you've gained a subscriber anyway 👍😆
@@Ronn-p3r they're called static caravans, they are usually sited in holiday parks all over the UK, they are lightweight because they're generally cheap and nasty.
Forgive my ignorance, but why didn't they load the drilling machine 90 degrees on the trailer, therefore eliminating the wide load , as the width of it was about the same width as the trailer itself?
@@tonys1636 for the first clips, (when) is the truck towing vehicle mandatory? Seems an expensive vehicle to have drive along a bunch of transports just in case
@@mipmipmipmipmip-v5x To provide extra motive power if required on hills and loss of traction in snow. Either pushing or pulling. No one wants an exceptional load blocking a main but narrow road.
Give me that in the UK and I'll definitely film it for you haha! Heavy haul in the UK is a lot smaller than places such as Australia or North America, as the infrastructure is a lot older and denser. Lots more old buildings, turns, low bridges, and narrower roadways. Something of that size is mostly limited to on site or in the area around it.
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Very relatable video. Every time I bring out my large drilling machine, I also get a police escort.
But do you have an oversized house?🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🙂↔️
Warms my old heart to see traffic actually moving on the A55!!
Slowly but surely! Even if with the snow and abnormal loads.
Apologies about the delay on this video, this was due to an account issue that has now been resolved.
Hello
Eryri is still called snowdonia you muppet
Your work is always appreciated! 😊
Caravan wagon driver" I've got a wide load." Other driver, "hold my pint!"
Drove my first TBM on the construction of the Victoria Line Tube in London was back in the 1960s. Operated a walking tunnel header machine to build a high voltage cable tunnel from New House in South Wales to Aust in England under the Wye and Severn Rivers with a midway shaft in the Beachley Army Apprentice's grounds. Have also worked on many other tunnels around the world using differing types of TBMs. Completing my career in 2015 on the KL Metro Malaysia. Where several Herrenknecht machines were used plus two Chinese look alike Herrenknecht machines were used. A project in Denmark had four Howden TBMs delivered by barge right to the job sites for the Storebaelt rail tunnels, A Lovat TBM EPB was delivered by rail from their Mississauga works for the CN rail tunnel under the St Clair river, the cutter head had to be later cut in two to be returned to the works by road for bearing repairs.
Other than the London tube machines. TBMs are only good for one project, due to high wear and differing soil types.
Thanks for posting and reminding this old man of his past career that took me to fantastic places around the world. Now retired to Vietnam and growing fruit. Happy New Year to you, stay safe in 2025.
Wow, you're definitely the guy to go to for details on TBMs! Thank you for all the history. I did wonder about the London Underground, and you were there back in the 1960s. HS2 are currently installing their two TBMs for the Euston tunnel project in London at the moment. They're absolutely colossal at 1,250 tonnes each. Not sure how they were delivered to HS2, but given their size it was probably in smaller segments than this one featured in the video. Having water access for a barge nearby is handy for larger machines like that!
Happy New Year and enjoy your retirement growing fruit in Vietnam! Have to say, that sounds like a nice way to spend your time.
Great video. You always find the most interesting things to film. Real talent! Thanks Cobra!
Thank you! Always much appreciated FrediO. Great seeing you on the launch live stream the other day!
Shouldn’t the tow truck be in front of the wide load? I mean if it breaks down at a narrow section how’s it gonna get past to rescue it?
The audio on your videos is brilliant!
Thank you! We're not all that confident with microphones and audio just yet so it is good to read this.
Awesome catch!!! Two oversized loads coming opposite directions. Well handled by the drivers
I live 5 miles from where the work is taking place. The biggest hold ups were when the council were removing all the street furniture at both ends of the Porthmadog by pass prior to the drilling machines coming through.
Never saw any of the police escorts come through unfortunately.
For a minute there i thought they were going to put the tunnel boring machine in a big shed.
I wonder how the new fireplace worked out !
Jaw-dropping footage of that creative clash of two gigantic loads on such a tiny narrow, winding road! 😵💫Wow Cobra! Wonderful to hear they are tunneling UNDER the estuary to relocate the high-voltage power lines. Excellent for any migrating wildlife too!👍
Jaw dropping? Seriously?
@@dahamsta Yes. You'd stand there with your mouth open too if you saw those two over-sized loads meet head on!
Cobra!!! Happy New Year!!! -Lot-3
There were 2 large loads in opposite direction
1st clip, freezing conditions, sleat, snow, ice and these fools are all riding each other bumpers, even up on the police car with do not pass....
Where's the 2 second rule even in the 2nd clip hell on bad weather you at least want to be triple that at least, new cars or not, no wonder so many crashes. Its a much easier life when you leave a gap and can actually see and not blindly following, debris on the road, animals crossing, crash ahead etc etc etc it all helps to leave that gap
Standard of driving in this video is shocking!!! Why do people follow so close?!
Why not new cars brake really fast
@@CruelQuertos but people don’t
The word is past, not passed. Education is important.
That was "boring"😂
😂 Couldn't resist it! Could ya?
Strange terminology in the title. "Oversize house"? You make it sound as if the house is at fault.
I'm pretty sure if the house was being built 'oversize' this would have been caught in either the planning or construction phase. If the house had indeed blocked the transportation of this particular load then that would have been a transportation planning error, NOT the presence of the "oversize house".
Saying all that though, great video, that driver has some skills lol
Just.... maybe work on your title wording in future so they don't seem so 'clickbaity' 👍
I was referring to the Oversize Load being a transported house coming the other way 😂
I've changed the title a few times to see how it could be worded and each time I'm not happy with it - but I would like to mention both the drilling machine and the oversize house transport in the same title. I'll try some more. Any suggestions?
Thank you!
@@CobraEmergency To be honest, I thought that 'oversize house' meant the house right on the corner with the slightly overhanging roofline (I've come a cropper to one of those in Switzerland driving a double-deck coach (and in my defense, I WAS trying to reverse it and a trailer around a hairpin bend at the time to avoid another large vehicle coming the other way lol)). I wouldn't have guessed it meant a static caravan travelling in the opposite direction. The fact that those two exceptional loads were able to pass each other in a tiny village is seriously impressive though, maybe a title somewhere along those lines?
It's up to you buddy, you've gained a subscriber anyway 👍😆
Haven't seen that before...thts an entire house on a truck..looks Heavy
@@Ronn-p3r they're called static caravans, they are usually sited in holiday parks all over the UK, they are lightweight because they're generally cheap and nasty.
Doesn't look like they had much confidence in the reliability of the Merc by having the Volvo recovery truck following.
@@staffsrail standard procedure just in case!
There must therefore be a "boring machine operator", which seems both fascinating and uninteresting in equal measure.😊
I love that job title, haha. Imagine telling people you're a 'boring operator'.
Forgive my ignorance, but why didn't they load the drilling machine 90 degrees on the trailer, therefore eliminating the wide load , as the width of it was about the same width as the trailer itself?
Because then it wouldn’t be a hindrance to anyone 😂
In an accident, it could break free, roll forwards, and crush the cab. Or it could topple sideways, crushing a vehicle beside it.
Just hope no Beemer or Audi drivers were inconvenienced. That would never do.
That house wasn’t over size. It looked quite small actually
Anything over 2.4m wide is a wide load, 15m long a long load and over 44 tonnes weight and 15m overall load/vehicle length a Convoi Exceptionel.
@@tonys1636 for the first clips, (when) is the truck towing vehicle mandatory? Seems an expensive vehicle to have drive along a bunch of transports just in case
@@mipmipmipmipmip-v5x To provide extra motive power if required on hills and loss of traction in snow. Either pushing or pulling. No one wants an exceptional load blocking a main but narrow road.
So what was the destination of this special transport?
Minffordd near Porthmadog. I did a piece on it towards the end if that's helpful!
Why the wrecker following? Seen much bigger than this with out a wrecker behind
Why chat disappear
Live premiere ended! 😞
Hi
Hi 🐕
Hahahaha is that all, barely a lane and a bit wide....
Take up 3 lanes with a single dump truck bed if you want a real load
Give me that in the UK and I'll definitely film it for you haha!
Heavy haul in the UK is a lot smaller than places such as Australia or North America, as the infrastructure is a lot older and denser.
Lots more old buildings, turns, low bridges, and narrower roadways.
Something of that size is mostly limited to on site or in the area around it.
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New rooms for migrants hahaha 😂
Skcxei tincahn❤