Tunnelling Steelwork
MSR delivers tunnelling steelwork fabrication across the UK for shaft construction and live drives: linings, walings, propping and access gantries built to the tolerances a bore demands. Every piece is fabricated off-site at our Bootle works, trial-fitted, and delivered to programme — because on a live tunnel drive, steelwork that doesn’t fit isn’t a delay, it’s a shutdown.
What we deliver
- Shaft lining rings and wall panels fabricated in sections to your shaft diameter, sized to go down on the winch or crane at the shaft head, with match-marked joints for reassembly at depth.
- Walings in universal beam sections, drilled and cleated to the propping layout, or built up from plate where a rolled section won't sit the ring.
- Propping struts in box section and tube, fitted with adjustable screw jacks or packer plates to take up ground movement as the drive advances.
- Full penetration and fillet welded connections on primary propping members, shop-welded at Bootle and site-bolted for final assembly.
- Access gantries and stairs at the shaft head for spoil handling and plant access, with checker-plate treads and galvanised handrail.
- Bespoke brackets, packers and shims machined to close tolerance where new steelwork has to marry existing shaft rings or tunnel segments.
- Shop primer or full hot-dip galvanizing, specified to suit wet ground and standing water below the shaft collar.
- Fabrication from structural plate and rolled section, cut, drilled and welded at our Bootle works before delivery to site.
How we work
- 01
Scope and survey
We take shaft dimensions, ground conditions and the temporary works engineer's loading from your site team, then work out sequence and lifting sizes for what has to go down the shaft.
- 02
Fabricate and trial-fit
Cut, drilled and welded at our Bootle works, sections are trial-assembled in the yard before they leave, so nothing gets discovered wrong at the shaft head.
- 03
Deliver to the drive
Steelwork goes out in sequence with the tunnelling programme, not as a single bulk drop, so props and linings arrive as the drive needs them.
Two factories in Bootle, 22,000 sq ft between them, turn out shaft and propping steelwork alongside MSR's rail and marine fabrication. MSR has worked for Tier 1 contractors — Morgan Est, Costain, Norwest Holst, Murphy, Birse, Laing O'Rourke and Mansell among them — including the Mersey Estuary Pollution Alleviation Scheme sewer works under Liverpool's Dock Road. That's tunnelling and shaft experience most Merseyside fabricators have never had to earn.
Related work
Where we've done this before.
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.
Where we work
We're based in Bootle and work shaft and tunnelling contracts across Merseyside and beyond, from drives in Liverpool out to schemes around Manchester and Preston, with the two factories close enough together to keep transport times short and turnaround fast.
FAQ
Common questions.
What size shaft can you fabricate lining and propping steelwork for?
We size to your shaft diameter and depth, not a standard range. Sections are built to fit the winch or crane you've got at the shaft head, so give us the bore dimensions and we'll fabricate to it.
Can you keep pace with a live tunnel drive?
Yes. Propping and walings go out in stages tied to the tunnelling programme rather than as one delivery, so the drive isn't waiting on steelwork to keep advancing.
Do you work from our temporary works engineer's drawings, or do we design it ourselves?
We fabricate to drawing — yours or your temporary works engineer's. We don't do the TW design itself, but we'll flag anything that looks difficult to build before it becomes a site problem.
What's the lead time on propping and shaft steelwork?
It depends on section sizes and quantity. Call early with your shaft dimensions and drive dates and we'll give you a fabrication programme, not just a quote.
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.