Transport for London (TfL) has announced that the giant boring machines have been lowered 20m underground in Battersea and are ready start the Northern Line extension in the UK capital.

Tunnelling works are expected to start in March and will take six months to complete.

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As part of this work, a huge 750t crane was used to lift the two 6m-diameter tunnel boring machines (TBMs) called Helen and Amy in London's Battersea Power Station.

The machines have been named in honour of the first British astronaut in space, Helen Sharman, and aviation pioneer Amy Johnson, who was the first female pilot to fly solo from Britain to Australia.

The TBMs are set to create two 3.2km underground tunnels to extend the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line from Kennington to Battersea Power Station through Nine Elms Station.

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Both tunnelling machines will now be assembled within two 77m-long launch tunnels, before they start their journeys towards Kennington next month.

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The TBMs Helen and Amy will each be 100m in length once complete.

"The TBMs are set to create two 3.2km underground tunnels to extend the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line from Kennington to Battersea Power Station."

After completing construction of both TBMs and their gantries, a conveyor system will be built to take the spoil from the tunnels up to barges on the River Thames.

Helen and Amy will excavate more than 300,000t of earth before the spoil is taken to Goshems Farm in East Tilbury, Essex, by boat.

The Ferrovial Agroman/ Laing O’Rourke (FLO) joint venture unveiled the two TBMs at a ceremony in Battersea last month.

The Northern Line extension is targeted for completion in 2020.

Image: Lowering of the tunnel boring machines. Photo: © John Zammit.