Tunnelling & Civils
MSR has fabricated shaft linings, walings, propping frames and temporary works steelwork since 1987, when three former Seaforth Welding employees set up in Bootle. Tunnelling and civils work doesn’t forgive slow delivery or a bad fit: steel goes into a shaft or a portal on a tight sequence, carries real load, and often comes back out again, so tolerances and turnaround matter more than on a typical job. That’s the work MSR built its name on, and it’s still doing it — current fabrication includes HS2 portal and shaft steelwork, produced at the same two Merseyside factories. Contractors including Morgan Est, Costain, Murphy and Birse have taken MSR steelwork onto rail, tunnelling and civils schemes across the UK and Ireland.
Why MSR
Every fabricator on the "steel fabrication Liverpool" results page can cut and weld a beam; very few of them have put shaft linings and temporary works into live rail and tunnelling schemes for Tier 1 contractors. That history is what lets MSR quote HS2 portal and shaft steelwork with confidence, instead of learning tunnelling tolerances on the client's programme. It's the one sector page on this site where the local competition genuinely isn't fabricating in the same category.
Case studies
Delivered work in this sector.
Tunnelling & Civils
HS2 Tunnelling Steelwork
Portal and shaft steelwork fabricated and delivered to HS2's tunnelling programme, sequenced around a live TBM drive where getting the timing wrong risks stopping the tunnel.
Tunnelling & Civils
Tunnelling & Shaft Steelwork, Merseyside
MSR has fabricated shaft linings, walings, propping and gantries for UK tunnelling contractors for decades, a continuing programme rooted in the MEPAS scheme.
Relevant services
FAQ
Common questions.
What kind of tunnelling steelwork does MSR fabricate?
Shaft linings, walings, propping frames, gantries and other temporary works steelwork, made at MSR's two Bootle factories (22,000 sq ft combined). This has been core to the business since 1987, and current fabrication includes HS2 portal and shaft steelwork.
Has MSR worked with major rail and tunnelling contractors before?
Yes. Past project relationships include Morgan Est, Costain, Norwest Holst, Murphy, Birse, Laing O'Rourke and Mansell, on rail, civils and tunnelling schemes across the UK and Ireland.
What is shaft lining steelwork?
Steel rings, walings, props and support frames that line and brace a shaft as it's excavated, holding the ground back while work continues below. MSR has been fabricating this type of steelwork for decades.
Does MSR fabricate temporary works steelwork, or only permanent structures?
Both. Temporary works — propping, gantries, walings and shaft support steelwork — has been part of MSR's output since the company was set up in 1987, alongside permanent structural steelwork.
Tell us what you need fabricated.
Structural, architectural or tunnelling steelwork — send drawings or a rough spec and we’ll come back with a straight answer.