1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:05,040 Underneath the streets of London... 2 00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:09,160 ..an army of more than 10,000 engineers 3 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:12,160 is building a brand-new subterranean railway. 4 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:14,800 OK! 5 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:16,200 Crossrail. 6 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,400 We've done the maths, we've checked the maths 7 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,320 and we've checked them a third time. 8 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:24,120 Costing almost £15 billion, it's one of the most ambitious 9 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,000 rail projects in Britain since the time of Brunel. 10 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,280 I've been doing civil engineering for 35 or so years. 11 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,520 Even I can't appreciate the scale until I come down here. 12 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:35,960 Head him up! 13 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:38,720 It was a lot easier when I was five years younger 14 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:40,040 and two stone lighter! 15 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:43,960 This is a crucial stage of the project 16 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:47,000 for workers digging 42 kilometres of tunnels... 17 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,560 We only get one chance to build this tunnel so we have to get it right. 18 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,480 When you do these things, you're building a part of history, 19 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:56,960 it's going to be here for a couple of hundred years. 20 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,640 ..and constructing ten vast new stations. 21 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,000 I've never build a train station before, 22 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,200 never mind one in a dock, underwater. 23 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,840 For almost two years, cameras have been following crews, 24 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:11,800 working cheek-by-jowl with some of London's 25 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:13,680 most distinguished residents. 26 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:17,000 That's ready to start pumping! 27 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,600 Facing a constant battle to keep London moving. 28 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:22,640 This area is where the gridlock is. 29 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,680 Haven't been able to go up and down these streets for four years. 30 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:28,680 Is Crossrail essential? 31 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:30,520 Be wonderful... 32 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:31,840 when it's done. 33 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,640 Constructing Crossrail is like undertaking open-heart surgery 34 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,240 on a patient whilst that patient is awake. 35 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:41,800 This is the exclusive inside story of the epic endeavour 36 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:44,120 to build London's new Underground. 37 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:57,800 London. Home to more than eight million people. 38 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,920 The key to keeping everyone moving - the Tube. 39 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:09,840 A vast network of 270 stations and 250 miles of track. 40 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:18,160 The London Underground handles more than a billion journeys a year. 41 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,680 All you've got to do is go on the underground system 42 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,360 in the morning and you can see it's very crowded. 43 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,360 The forecast for London is one of continued growth, 44 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,800 an extra million people in the next 10 or 15 years. 45 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:39,600 This 150-year-old network struggles to cope with peak demand. 46 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:47,440 The last new Tube, the Jubilee Line, was opened 35 years ago. 47 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,560 So, today, engineers are building a brand-new underground railway line 48 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:53,160 to help take the strain. 49 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,720 Passing right across London, it's called Crossrail. 50 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:04,680 It will run overground, from Reading and Heathrow in the west... 51 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,000 ..straight underneath Central London. 52 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:15,080 It will connect key mainline train stations 53 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:16,880 with the historic Square Mile. 54 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:20,080 And the new business district. 55 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,760 Before terminating at Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. 56 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,120 120 kilometres of railway will link to the rest 57 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:31,920 of the Tube and open in 2018. 58 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:36,560 Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, 59 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,680 will be just 28 minutes from London's West End, 60 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,960 a journey that currently takes almost an hour on the Tube. 61 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,280 Another eight minutes will whisk you to the booming East End. 62 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:55,480 An idea born in 1974, it's taken 40 years to get to this point. 63 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,560 And the project isn't without controversy. 64 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:01,080 It is a big job. 65 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,880 Probably the biggest single rail project 66 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:06,360 that the UK has ever seen. 67 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:10,880 Pretty much everything we do has an impact on somebody. 68 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:14,240 The budget for Crossrail is 14.8 billion. 69 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,400 This is taxpayers' money, it's important to remember that. 70 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:20,480 The other thing I've got to sign here is a £21 million 71 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:23,800 payment authorisation to one of our tunnelling contractors. 72 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:25,120 And this one's OK. 73 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:30,160 Building Crossrail in the middle of nowhere would be a big enough 74 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:31,320 technical challenge, 75 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,000 but to do that right in the centre of London, with all of 76 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,080 the neighbours above and around us, makes it more complex still. 77 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:43,560 Oxford Street - the shopping Mecca that runs through the heart 78 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:47,320 of London, between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road. 79 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,960 It's the busiest shopping street in Europe. 80 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,800 200 million people visit the high-end stores here each year. 81 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,080 Engineers must dig the tunnels for Crossrail 82 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:03,800 right underneath this area. 83 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:08,520 The new train line will soon make it easier for people to travel here. 84 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,800 But building the tunnels below ground without disrupting 85 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,760 the stores and shoppers above is no simple task... 86 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,480 ..even for tunnel construction manager Steve Parker... 87 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:22,680 Hey, Mario! 88 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,920 ..who has more than 25 years' tunnelling experience. 89 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:28,440 Oh, well, another glorious day at work. 90 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:32,800 A lot of people will say that tunnelling is boring. 91 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:34,800 If you look up in the Yellow Pages "boring", 92 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,040 it says, "See civil engineers." 93 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:38,280 I am a civil engineer. 94 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:42,800 Steve is part of a 500-strong team. 95 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,520 And this is the great picture at the Royal Oak Portal 96 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:47,120 and there's our tunnelling team. 97 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:49,240 A few Hollywood players in there, yes. 98 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,200 Willie, where are you on this? There you are. 99 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:54,920 Ah, he's right in the middle! 100 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,560 That's Willie Archibald, our tunnel surveyor, 101 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,480 and he's got a certain height, and we use that as a unit of measure. 102 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:05,760 One Willie Archibald is a standard tunnelling unit of measure. 103 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:09,480 We've got the woolly hat here on the "Where's Wally?" thing, 104 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:11,680 and we move it around from time to time. 105 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:20,280 Steve, Willie and the team oversee the running of two giant 106 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:23,320 tunnel-boring machines - "TBMs". 107 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,560 In all, there are eight of these clay-eating monsters. 108 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,800 Each one is a 150 metres long 109 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:34,400 and weighs 1,000 tonnes. 110 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:41,200 These digging demons can burrow up to 72 metres a day. 111 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:48,000 In the future I want to be taking my family in this tunnel and say, 112 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:49,520 "Look, I worked on this." 113 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:53,600 I think many tunnellers like to think of themselves as kind of the unsung heroes. 114 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:55,400 Because it's all underground. 115 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:02,760 Steve's crew is about to face its toughest test yet. 116 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,720 They must weave one of the tunnelling machines through 117 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,080 the tightest point of the entire route, 118 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:10,040 known as "the Eye of the Needle". 119 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:15,960 At the east end of Oxford Street 120 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:19,400 lies London Underground's Tottenham Court Road station. 121 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:23,120 It's where the Tube's Northern Line and Central Line intersect. 122 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,480 Crossrail needs to link into this super-hub. 123 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:31,440 But digging tunnels here is not easy. 124 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:35,400 Pipes, cables and sewers crowd the ground. 125 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,160 The Tube's busy Northern Line platforms... 126 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:42,400 ..and two escalators 127 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:46,080 make the earth extremely crowded. 128 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,920 The only option for Steve's team is to drive their tunnelling machine 129 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,240 through the tightest of gaps. 130 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:56,920 85 centimetres above a live, running Tube line 131 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,280 and 35 centimetres below the escalators. 132 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:04,040 It's the closest any Crossrail tunnel will come to the critical 133 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:06,600 infrastructure that keeps London ticking. 134 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,440 At the controls for the tightest drive of them all 135 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:15,800 is shift engineer Ed Batty. 136 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,200 We've been in tricky spots before but nothing where we've had 137 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:22,440 something below us 138 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:25,920 and above us in such a close proximity 139 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:27,320 so, yeah, it's a first for me. 140 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:32,160 My first job on a TBM, one year and one month I've been down here. 141 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:34,760 The first six months was a learning curve 142 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:38,440 and now I know what the crack is, basically. 143 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:40,560 ALARM-LIKE SOUND 144 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:41,880 What's going on now? 145 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,440 That's the TBM belt just about to start 146 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:47,880 and that's the belt that goes all the way out. 147 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:51,760 Four kilometres of conveyor belt transport the excavated 148 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:53,800 London clay out to the surface. 149 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:58,240 By the end of the project, 150 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,240 the tunnelling machines will have mined over six million tonnes 151 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:05,240 of earth - enough to fill Wembley Stadium three times. 152 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,720 Hey, guys. Lovely morning. 153 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:23,960 Steve and the team are meeting with London Underground. 154 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:28,320 We need to make sure the perimeters are absolutely clear so that we avoid 155 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:30,400 some sort of unnecessary response. 156 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:35,400 The tunnellers can't interrupt Tube services during the 48 hours 157 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,440 it will take their machine to pass through the Eye of the Needle. 158 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,760 The tunnel boring machine is passing directly over a platform tunnel. 159 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:45,960 So our customers will be able see the impact of the tunnel 160 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:47,280 boring machine passing by. 161 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:49,560 For example, you could have tiles falling off. 162 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:52,240 If we had customers on the platform who started seeing 163 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,080 a lot of fluid come in, they might cause a panic. 164 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:59,600 If the worst comes to the worst, we might have to evacuate the station. 165 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,920 The only thing we need to discuss is what surveillance regime 166 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:04,520 we're going to have in place. 167 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:06,840 The team agree to keep a close eye 168 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,640 on the platform as the tunnellers pass overhead. 169 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,240 I suppose the real excitement, 170 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,960 if you like, or the adrenaline will start if there is an incident. 171 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:19,440 TANNOY: Customers for all stations to Morden 172 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:23,080 should take the next available train and change at Kennington. 173 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:32,240 Tottenham Court Road station was built in 1900, 174 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:35,840 for the Central London Railway, now the Central Line. 175 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:39,680 The first line to run all day on Sundays 176 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:41,960 and nicknamed the "Twopenny Tube", 177 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:44,840 it was affordable and proved hugely popular. 178 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:51,400 The new link made the shops on Oxford Street easier to reach, 179 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:52,840 boosting their profits. 180 00:10:55,800 --> 00:11:00,640 The new stations here will deliver another 120,000 shoppers a day 181 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:02,040 to the streets. 182 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:11,320 Crossrail engineers have 40 sprawling worksites 183 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:13,040 spread out across London. 184 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,480 Some are little more than shafts allowing access to the new 185 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:20,640 train tunnels growing underground. 186 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,320 Others are giant holes puncturing the landscape, 187 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:28,680 forming the outlines of ten new stations. 188 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:36,120 The sites in Central London are hemmed in between office blocks, 189 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:39,320 busy shops and roads that never stop. 190 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:44,960 This makes construction work extra difficult. 191 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:49,200 One of the pinch points 192 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,240 is two stops east of Tottenham Court Road, 193 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,880 the site for a new Crossrail station serving Liverpool Street. 194 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:01,800 In four years' time, this will be a spacious new ticket hall. 195 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,960 But right now there's almost no room for manoeuvre. 196 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:09,040 We'll get cracking then, yeah? Reeeet! 197 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:14,080 An elite squad of crane riggers is assembling to clear some space. 198 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:16,800 Right, this is me team I'll be working with, 199 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:20,480 this is Gurg from down here, so he knows the area. 200 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:24,880 And this is the Scouser, Lee. You've probably seen him on Crimewatch. 201 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:26,040 Cheers, Steve. 202 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:28,800 I'll never be welcome in Liverpool again, will I? 203 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:30,320 Well, I love me van! 204 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:34,200 Laptop, kitchen sink, it's all in here somewhere. 205 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,160 I try and keep it really tidy, 206 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:38,840 everybody takes the mick cos it's such a tidy van. 207 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:40,400 He polishes that every day. 208 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,200 When he gets home, he gives himself another hour on the time sheet 209 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:45,040 and gives his van a good polish. 210 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,360 Seven years in the army, that's what it is, you're either tidy or 211 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:50,280 you're in a lot of trouble, like. 212 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:55,160 The huge 280-tonne crawler crane has been hauling heavy equipment 213 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:56,680 around the site. 214 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:01,000 Steve leads the team tasked with lifting it from the cramped space 215 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:02,720 so building work can begin. 216 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,080 The lifting of the crane out of the hole, 217 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:06,960 it's not something you do every day. 218 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:11,000 I've been doing it 15 years now, I suppose it's never easy, like. 219 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:13,880 The crane is so huge, and the site so small... 220 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:15,680 Put the rest of the barriers in. 221 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:18,520 ..that first they need to close off a side street 222 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:20,600 to lay its 60-metre-long boom arm down. 223 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,160 Keep moving her down, mate, keep moving her down. 224 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,000 Nice and steady. And hold it there, stop. 225 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,760 Just watch yourself, cos that's going to slam that way. 226 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:35,360 Hold it there, Norbert. 227 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,680 Steve now needs to bring in a big mobile crane to dismantle 228 00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:50,240 the rest of the crawler. 229 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:55,000 The obvious place to position this 230 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:57,680 is the empty narrow strip on site, 231 00:13:57,680 --> 00:14:00,480 from where it can easily lift out the crawler crane. 232 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:05,520 But the world's oldest underground railway, 233 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:09,440 the Metropolitan Line, runs less than two metres below the surface. 234 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:14,080 Putting the crane here could damage the Victorian tunnels. 235 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,880 So the team has no option but to position their crane on Moorgate. 236 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:23,040 Closing off one of London's major traffic arteries. 237 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:30,360 Moorgate is an essential thoroughfare into the heart 238 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:32,440 of the historic business district. 239 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:37,840 Over 400,000 people work in the City during the week 240 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:41,200 but at the weekend it's relatively quiet. 241 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,280 We're going to be slinging you in through the head there. 242 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:47,760 Once they close Moorgate tonight, Steve's team have just 243 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,640 a single weekend to get the crawler crane off site. 244 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:57,400 This part of London has always been busy. 245 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,000 When Victorian engineers built the Metropolitan Line 246 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,480 in the 1860s, they closed streets for years. 247 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:09,280 Cutting huge trenches into the ground to form Tube tunnels 248 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:10,960 caused major disruption. 249 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:15,520 Cor! 250 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:18,560 Steve can't afford to cause gridlock here today. 251 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,680 He needs everything to run like clockwork. 252 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:27,440 Yeah, it was a lot easier when I was about five years younger 253 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:28,880 and two stone lighter! 254 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,480 In the heart of the West End, Crossrail's new station 255 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,320 at Tottenham Court Road will be a gateway to the shops 256 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:43,800 of Oxford Street. 257 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:48,360 As well as the vibrant area of Soho. 258 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:54,520 Soho is London's entertainment hub, home to hundreds of bars, 259 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:57,600 restaurants and the West End's famous theatres. 260 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:04,320 Here we are in the middle of Soho Square. 261 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:07,640 Crossrail is building a new station directly underneath our feet here. 262 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:10,480 Our tunnel boring machine is directly under this building 263 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:11,640 opposite us there. 264 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:16,520 Advancing on average 22 metres a day, 265 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,640 Crossrail's vast tunnel boring machine is 266 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:21,640 closing in on the Eye of the Needle. 267 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:25,600 We've got to pass under a couple of buildings before 268 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,160 it gets to the Eye of the Needle, but before we get there 269 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:30,680 obviously we've got to protect the buildings. 270 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:33,840 We don't want to put the table-tennis table out of level. 271 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:37,400 It's all part of keeping London moving. 272 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:44,080 Digging directly under a city is a delicate operation. 273 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:49,200 The loose ground around freshly dug tunnels could settle unevenly, 274 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,240 potentially causing buildings to tilt. 275 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,200 So Crossrail's engineers use a network of lasers 276 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,200 and targets to spot any movement of buildings. 277 00:17:04,360 --> 00:17:06,480 If you look closely at the buildings, 278 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:09,280 you can see lines of these prisms that are all across the facades. 279 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:12,480 On the far corner there, on the brackets away from the building, 280 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,120 you can see an automatic station up on the end there. 281 00:17:15,120 --> 00:17:17,680 It'll know where these prisms are supposed to be, 282 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:21,160 it'll turn the instrument to see where it last read the prism from, 283 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,840 and then it'll take the shot that'll give it the exact location of the prism. 284 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:28,040 You'll see it rotating round now, working its way around, 285 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,840 and then sending all that data back to the control room 286 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,720 so we know where all these prisms are in real time. 287 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:40,200 Data from thousands of targets 288 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:43,840 installed across Central London flows back to Tunnel Control. 289 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:49,880 Simon Leavy analyses any slight change in ground level 290 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:51,840 picked up by the instruments. 291 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:57,480 If the ground moves either up or down, we can tell from these graphs. 292 00:17:57,480 --> 00:17:59,840 The nodes on the points are blue 293 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:02,400 so that means they're not in any trigger area 294 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:07,000 but if they go to a green, it's a green alert, amber and red. 295 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:13,680 Robot trackers keep check on some of the most historic buildings 296 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:16,280 in London, 24 hours a day. 297 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,600 Amongst them is one of the oldest structures in Soho Square. 298 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:28,000 The Grade I listed charity and chapel House of St Barnabas. 299 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:33,800 This is just so 1750s. 300 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:37,000 This building was the anchor building for the development 301 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,040 of the square here in Soho. 302 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:45,320 If we look up, this is the plasterwork installed in 1754. 303 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:49,560 It's a classic piece of rococo work. 304 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:55,560 The main hall and the Silk Room next door together constitute 305 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:59,080 the last complete set of rococo plasterwork in London. 306 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,360 And so the house is monitored in a variety of ways. 307 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:05,200 There's a theodolite looking at these two faces 308 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,440 and there's another theodolite at the back. 309 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:10,000 I'm standing on top of monitoring devices, 310 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,040 which are built into the floor, and there are monitoring devices 311 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,400 above my head, again built into the floor. 312 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:20,840 This broad staircase was designed to look completely floating free. 313 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:24,160 Crossrail have built a steel framework, 314 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:26,200 which is underneath the staircase. 315 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,680 It's not supporting the staircase, it's a safety net. 316 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:33,880 Were the staircase to fall apart, the steel frame would catch it 317 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:37,520 and we would be able to rebuild it using the existing materials. 318 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,480 The House of St Barnabas is bristling with gadgets. 319 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:48,320 But, despite supporting its stairway and protecting its pillars, 320 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:49,640 there's a problem. 321 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:56,560 As engineers dig passages beneath Soho Square 322 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,640 to link up Tottenham Court Road's two new platforms... 323 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:04,160 ..the excavations are disturbing the ground. 324 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,080 In Soho Square now we have some amber triggers 325 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:09,920 on the levelling points. 326 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:12,880 It's not to do with the TBM, it's the new ticket hall, 327 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:16,160 so they're actually excavating fairly deep in that area. 328 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,120 Sensors on the House of St Barnabas have triggered alerts. 329 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:26,560 Reverend Scott fears cracks in his plasterwork are getting worse. 330 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:31,320 The corner behind me has been gently moving towards the square. 331 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:37,320 And we are watching the cracks that are forming in the plasterwork. 332 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:40,320 Now, we don't want to be panicky about this, 333 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:43,240 but you have to keep an eye on what's going on. 334 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:46,600 The main thing is to try to ensure that it all stays up there. 335 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:55,200 The Reverend isn't the only Soho resident worried about the impact 336 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:57,600 of Crossrail's construction work here. 337 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:05,520 The Star Cafe was started in 1933 by my father. 338 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:09,000 I personally have only been here 52 years, 339 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,680 so, yeah, got a bit more to go yet. 340 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:17,560 Since work began, Mario's road has been closed to traffic 341 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:21,320 and the cafe is now within touching distance of the building site. 342 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:25,560 Obviously it affects the amount of people that can get down to here. 343 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:29,680 So a big bulk of our clients has gone. 344 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:35,920 I say our trade is down, yeah, 35% without any hesitation. 345 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:38,400 Is Crossrail essential? 346 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:40,200 Be wonderful... 347 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:41,720 when it's done. 348 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,480 Two stops back east, at Liverpool Street... 349 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,920 ..the fight for space on the cramped site has forced the team 350 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:03,240 to close off a side street to break up a huge crane. 351 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:07,200 What we're going to do now, we're going to split 352 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:10,480 the top two pins to the boom now and lay it down on the floor. 353 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,600 And we'll, er, knock it to bits. 354 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:20,360 HE SIGHS 355 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:23,040 To be in my type of position? 356 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:25,320 A good back and knees. 357 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,000 And good with an 'ammer normally helps as well! 358 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:31,680 That's it... 359 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,080 Yeah, it's knackered, I'll get me paint. 360 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:37,360 Obviously, when you take a crane to bits, you've got to examine it 361 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:41,480 for any damage, any defects and that, so it's safe for the next job. 362 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:45,720 I'll mark it down, obviously someone will get a bill somewhere for it, 363 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:47,400 cos they're not cheap. 364 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:48,880 I'll do me tag. 365 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,360 It's damaged but it's perfectly safe to work still. 366 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:55,280 Right, we'll go for the main rope now, Norbert. 367 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,320 Norbert's me crane driver. Where's he? 368 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,320 He's...in the crane. 369 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:01,800 And he loves his crane, like, 370 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:05,320 so he's sat in there with his air conditioning and his newspaper 371 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:09,080 and his dirty books, whatever else crane drivers read all day. 372 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:10,840 HE LAUGHS 373 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:21,080 Right, we'll get these pins out. 374 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:30,160 These four here. 375 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:31,760 Are they the damaged places? 376 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:34,520 Yeah, they're damaged, they'll have to be replaced. 377 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,360 It's the brightest colour we could get, bright pink. 378 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:39,360 Look at that, bobby-dazzler. 379 00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:40,520 Innit? 380 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:44,320 They call him King Rigger. He's not bad to work with. 381 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:48,080 He likes the whip, getting yous to do things now and again. 382 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:50,280 Me Scouser's gone missing. 383 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:51,440 Hey, Steve! 384 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,040 Oh, he's there, it's all right, we've found him. He's not been arrested. 385 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:56,120 Right! 386 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:04,080 Once we're happy and the lights go red, we'll close the north side off, both lanes. 387 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,720 With the boom arm down, Steve's ready to get a mobile crane 388 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:12,000 into place on the road to lift out the rest of the crawler. 389 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:13,880 It's time to shut down Moorgate. 390 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:19,720 OK, mate, as soon as it's red and it's safe to do so, go for it. 391 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:23,000 That taxi's your last one, mate - as soon as that taxi's out. 392 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:28,520 Moorgate is now closed. 393 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:30,240 The team only has the weekend 394 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:32,720 to break down and remove the crawler crane 395 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,400 before the road must reopen for the Monday-morning rush hour. 396 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,280 But there's a hitch with the 350-tonne mobile crane 397 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,960 they're calling in to lift out the crawler. 398 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:47,520 I don't know if you've heard about the crane. 399 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:49,480 I haven't. Well, I've just had a heads-up. 400 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,720 The 350-tonne crane has got damaged on another site - 401 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:54,520 it won't be coming here. OK. 402 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:58,040 There are only two of those 350-tonne cranes in the UK at the moment. 403 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:00,440 One's committed on another job and couldn't be released 404 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,160 and the other one's been damaged, so here we are trying to re-plan. 405 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:23,880 Back west, next to the new Tottenham Court Road station site... 406 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,000 ..tunnelling work beneath Soho Square 407 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,200 is causing the ground to settle. 408 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:38,720 The Grade I listed House of St Barnabas has a slight tilt, 409 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:41,120 threatening its rare rococo decor. 410 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:47,800 Engineers must stop the earth from sinking before it gets any worse. 411 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:54,400 Before works began, they created a vast subterranean protection system. 412 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,520 They dug 22 unique shafts around central London 413 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:01,480 to protect historic buildings. 414 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,200 Four of these shafts are in Soho Square. 415 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:11,200 A spider's web of thin tube stretches out from each shaft. 416 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:14,720 Each tube has holes every metre. 417 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:19,680 Engineers send a special device called a packer 418 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:21,800 to the spot where the ground is settling. 419 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:27,000 The packer precision-injects grout to fill up any voids... 420 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:31,560 ..lifting the earth back to its original position, 421 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:34,840 protecting plasterwork, preventing further cracks 422 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,440 and keeping buildings - like the House of St Barnabas - safe. 423 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:41,680 TAM number 46 then, yeah? 424 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:46,400 This shaft in the southeast corner of Soho Square 425 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,280 is the "office" for grouters Lloyd and Tony. 426 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:53,240 This is what we call a packer. 427 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:55,320 This rubber part here will inflate. 428 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:58,480 That'll form a seal to prevent any grout coming back out. 429 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:01,160 90 metres, a long way to push the packer, 430 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,840 but you take the rough with the smooth, I think. 431 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:08,040 Two, six, one, five! OK! Two, six, one, five. 432 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:17,240 Lloyd and Tony spend up to 12 hours a day down this shaft, 433 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:19,320 packing holes under Soho Square. 434 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,280 OK, that's depth, inflate the packer. 435 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:33,840 That's ready to start pumping! 436 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:35,320 Yeah, pumping now. 437 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:42,520 I've been on the job for about 16 months. 438 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:45,840 Tony's been with us for about...six months? 439 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:49,480 We generally tend to stick together as a team as well, you know. 440 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:52,320 Yeah, we do come... not too close obviously, 441 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:55,200 you don't want to get too close in a place like this. 442 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:58,280 You get used to talking to yourself but apart from that it's all right. 443 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,400 Thirteen, three, zero, seven, five! 444 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:03,320 OK, up on the reel. 445 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:11,720 Whoa! 446 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,320 Now we're off to Crossrail in their new offices 447 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:23,720 and we usually meet with them regularly 448 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,960 to survey the monitoring, to discuss any particular 449 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:30,520 operations that have taken place, and then we can co-ordinate. 450 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:36,880 Welcome to the House of Barnabas periodic meeting. 451 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:40,920 The team will meet once a month for the next four years to keep check 452 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:43,120 on Soho's historic buildings. 453 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:45,600 I did report that everything was fine. 454 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:49,600 Then the summary sheet won't have any triggers, 455 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:53,080 unless we get realignments. THEY ALL LAUGH 456 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:56,480 They'll keep a close eye on the House of St Barnabas, 457 00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:59,080 and its exquisite rococo plasterwork. 458 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:04,320 The charming lady here has survived to keep us entertained 459 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,360 in the 21st century, and I hope for many more. 460 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,800 One stop west of Tottenham Court Road, in the heart of Mayfair, 461 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:25,400 engineers are building Crossrail's new Bond Street station. 462 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:30,400 New Bond Street is one of the most expensive streets in Europe 463 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:33,520 so it's definitely one of the poshest parts of London. 464 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,200 Any settlement that's generated in this area 465 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:39,520 could potentially cause damage to buildings, so we spend a huge amount 466 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:43,040 of time, money and effort making sure that doesn't happen. 467 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:45,560 We've established a network of grout shafts 468 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:50,120 and by doing that we can physically lift whole buildings, 469 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:51,960 the whole area if need be, 470 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:55,480 and we can make sure there's no damage to any buildings. 471 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:58,080 Building grout shafts in the congested heart 472 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:01,880 of London's swankiest district solves one problem, 473 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,120 but means compromises must be made. 474 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:09,440 This shaft sits right next door to Bonhams - 475 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,840 a fine art auctioneers established over 200 years ago. 476 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:15,440 Lot number 36, ladies and gentlemen. 477 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:17,440 A splendid Imperial vase. 478 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:20,440 Start the bidding here at £400,000. 479 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:22,120 400,000 is offered. 420. 480 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:26,520 As you can see, it's a very tight site here, there's very little room. 481 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:31,000 And you can see how close Bonhams' building is. 482 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:34,360 It's only a metre or so away from the edge of our grout shaft. 483 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:36,160 £700,000. 484 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:39,720 750. 485 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:41,040 800. 486 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:42,680 850. 487 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,400 Attending an auction is incredibly exciting. 488 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,080 I've been in the business for 30-odd years and, 489 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:52,400 yeah, your adrenaline goes, it's an exciting spectacle, if you like. 490 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:54,000 It is like putting on a show. 491 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,920 One million pounds. There's the bid. 492 00:30:56,920 --> 00:30:59,840 £1,250,000, I'll take. 493 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:02,040 Quite sure, no more for you? 494 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:06,640 I'm selling for £1,250,000. 495 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:07,960 All done? 496 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:14,440 The priceless, the fragile, the unique - 497 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:18,920 items for sale must be carefully exhibited in Bonhams gallery. 498 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:21,480 We've got a very special sale coming up 499 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:25,000 where we're going to have about 34 select motorcars. 500 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:30,160 The sale content value is around about 13, 14 million pounds. 501 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:33,520 James needs to get 14 vintage cars through Bonhams' 502 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:36,200 back alley and into the showroom for sale. 503 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:41,840 This is where Crossrail's grout shaft is 504 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:46,280 and they've put these metal plates on top of the circle 505 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:50,320 so that we can get our motorcars over the grout shaft. 506 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:53,560 We've not yet tested getting a car in here, 507 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:58,640 so getting the first car over that plate will be one of those 508 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:02,000 sort of moments that you have your heart in your mouth. 509 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:06,720 So this is the pinch point here, 230 centimetres, 510 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:11,720 but realistically you've got about 210 centimetres, with a little 511 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:13,400 bit of contingency either side. 512 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,240 The slightest scratch is going to affect them visually 513 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:19,000 and affect their value as well. 514 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:22,720 On paper it works but we all know on paper is not necessarily 515 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:24,080 what it's like in reality. 516 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:33,800 Across town, in London's financial heart, lift supervisor Steve 517 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:35,680 is fuelling up for the day ahead. 518 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:40,920 You can't beat a good cup of coffee in the morning, can you? 519 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:42,560 Bit expensive down here, though. 520 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:47,280 Well, up north I could get about four cups, a night out with me whippets, 521 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:51,120 maybe buy a couple of pigeons and still have a tanner left. 522 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:52,600 Right, lads, come on then. 523 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,560 The crane originally booked for this lift has been 524 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:00,120 damaged on another site. 525 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:02,840 They've hired in the biggest replacement they could find, 526 00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:05,320 but it might not be big enough. 527 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:08,160 The crane's turned up and he's only got 52 tonnes of ballast 528 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:11,240 with him, which is adequate to do all but the last lift. 529 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,360 Without enough ballast to stabilise the mobile crane, 530 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:18,640 the heavy load could cause it to topple. 531 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:27,840 Steve's team must source extra ballast for the biggest lift - fast. 532 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:37,960 Obviously what he's got on now isn't sufficient for the heavier lifts 533 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:39,400 later on in the day, 534 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:44,680 but it's good enough for what we've got to load out this morning. 535 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:49,000 Start taking her up, mate, we'll get it over the section. 536 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:50,520 All the way. 537 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:56,000 The team make headway, hauling the lighter parts 538 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:57,640 of the crawler off site. 539 00:33:57,640 --> 00:33:59,880 Right, mate, start taking her up. 540 00:33:59,880 --> 00:34:03,600 Leaving the 44-tonne base section until last. 541 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:05,680 That's lovely that, mate, no bother. 542 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:14,760 You've just got to be careful of the buildings, 543 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:16,400 people walking underneath. 544 00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:23,040 The heaviest load we've got today is the car body of the crane, 545 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:25,000 it's 44 tonnes all up, 546 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,760 we need the full 96 tonnes of ballast on the crane to lift that. 547 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:34,040 They urgently need the extra ballast to arrive on site 548 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,440 to finish the job and reopen Moorgate 549 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:39,280 in time for the Monday-morning rush hour. 550 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:48,080 CAR HORNS 551 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:52,800 Crossrail's road closures in the city are a bane for motorists, 552 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:56,200 especially London's 23,000 cab drivers. 553 00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:58,840 Cabbies'll moan about everything. 554 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:03,240 But you've got to have a good moan if you want to live in London. 555 00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:07,720 Mike Zihni has been a cab driver for 12 years. 556 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,960 Crossrail's made all the roads rotten. 557 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:15,920 This area is where the gridlock is. 558 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:20,800 Haven't been able to go up and down these streets for four years. 559 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:22,840 You can't do the rat runs any more, 560 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:26,520 so they've messed up what we call the dirty dozen - dozen streets 561 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:30,720 that get you through the north part of Soho, to get out of it. 562 00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:33,000 They're like little arteries into a heart. 563 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:35,560 One or two of them start shutting, boom, boom, boom. 564 00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:37,640 CAR HORN 565 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:42,240 I've seen cabbies, like, pulling their hair out, foaming at the mouth, 566 00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:44,440 crying almost on the dashboard. 567 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:48,480 DELUGE OF CAR HORNS 568 00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:52,520 You've just got to keep your cool and just go with the flow and 569 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:56,440 not get too stressed out about it all, you'll just drive yourself mad. 570 00:35:56,440 --> 00:35:59,840 If you want to work in it, you've got to put up with it. 571 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:06,600 Underneath Oxford Street, 572 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:08,080 the tunnel boring machine 573 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:10,520 is marching towards Tottenham Court Road. 574 00:36:13,720 --> 00:36:16,640 It's a critical time for Tim Morrison, 575 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:19,520 who heads London Underground's engineering team. 576 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:22,400 Constructing Crossrail is like 577 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:26,240 undertaking open-heart surgery on a patient whilst that patient is awake 578 00:36:26,240 --> 00:36:28,040 because we're trying to maintain 579 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:31,520 the operation of the railway as it is without disrupting it at all. 580 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:34,680 There are 31 locations where Crossrail are doing something 581 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:37,200 that has the potential to affect London Underground. 582 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:40,080 It could be that they're digging a very large hole close to us, 583 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:42,560 it could be that they are doing some demolition work, 584 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:44,440 for example, near to our railway. 585 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:52,720 Each generation of engineers faces the same challenge 586 00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:55,480 upgrading London's transport networks 587 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:56,880 to keep the city moving. 588 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:02,200 Back in the '60s, it was building the new Victoria Line that 589 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:04,520 threatened to clog vital arteries. 590 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:07,960 NEWSREEL: Ten-and-a-half miles of route, twelve stations, 591 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:11,880 eleven of them at intersections with one or more existing lines. 592 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:15,680 And the biggest engineering enterprise is at Oxford Circus. 593 00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:21,400 Oxford Circus is just a stone's throw away from Tim's office. 594 00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:24,600 We're standing on the junction of Oxford Street and Regent Street. 595 00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:28,360 Probably one of the busiest interchanges in the whole of London, I would think. 596 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:32,320 In 1963, engineers had to build a new ticket hall 597 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:35,760 for Oxford Circus, directly underneath this busy junction. 598 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:40,360 It would take almost five years to construct. 599 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:44,360 So instead of closing the road they built a giant bridge across it, 600 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:48,120 to keep traffic moving while they dug underneath. 601 00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:51,760 NEWSREEL: The intention was to erect the bridge in one long weekend - 602 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:54,840 the August Bank Holiday weekend, 1963. 603 00:37:56,360 --> 00:38:00,640 The area took on a beleaguered look as D-Day came nearer. 604 00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:05,160 Buses re-routed and traffic diverted, policemen deployed 605 00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:07,280 and essential services endangered. 606 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:14,800 And so zero hour arrived, 1.30 on the Saturday afternoon. 607 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:16,960 And it was raining - of course(!) 608 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:24,760 Then the hardware started arriving. 609 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:27,560 The largest of the girders was 35 feet long 610 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:30,800 and weighed just over five tonnes, but the iron fighters were 611 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:34,040 tossing them around as though this was the Braemar Games! 612 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:37,280 There's no bolting down, which saved time. And bolts. 613 00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:40,720 And they can't shift because the whole structure interlocks. 614 00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:43,120 So it went on for the rest of Sunday. 615 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:46,240 And we were still waiting for the bit that didn't fit. 616 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:50,480 There was something like 245 individual steel elements 617 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:53,560 that were slowly assembled and they got it right first time. 618 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:59,160 And right on the dot, 6.30am, Tuesday the 6th of August, 1963, 619 00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:02,640 with all services functioning, the first traffic crossed. 620 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:08,560 Keeping the buses moving, keeping cars moving, and that's allowed them 621 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:12,400 to be progressively excavating the soil below the Circus itself. 622 00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:14,640 If we don't learn lessons from the past, 623 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:17,960 we won't be able to do the more challenging projects of the future. 624 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:19,760 So, 50 years ago almost to the day, 625 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:22,240 we had this incredible feat of engineering, 626 00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:26,000 and 50 years later we're about to send a tunnelling machine 627 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:29,640 through a very congested part of Tottenham Court Road station. 628 00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:38,680 There are now just two days to go 629 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:41,160 before Crossrail's tunnelling machine 630 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:43,320 goes through the Eye of the Needle. 631 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:51,440 It's going to get a lot of attention from everybody 632 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:52,960 and we want to get it right. 633 00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:57,120 Do you know how expensive this photoshoot is? 634 00:39:58,240 --> 00:40:00,720 It's going to be a very close encounter. 635 00:40:00,720 --> 00:40:05,680 The ruler's showing how close this 7.1-metre, 900-tonne 636 00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:10,000 tunnelling machine is going to LU operational infrastructure. 637 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:13,680 This is our TBM and this is the pile bottom. 638 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:16,640 Wow, that it tight, isn't it? It's unbelievable. 639 00:40:16,640 --> 00:40:18,360 That's how good we are. 640 00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:20,880 If we actually hit the Northern Line platform, 641 00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:24,480 then London Underground would have to close the station. 642 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:27,600 We've looked at where all the different structures are and we've 643 00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:31,240 convinced ourselves that there is an eye that we can go through. 644 00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:41,640 There's just five centimetres' margin for error as Willie lines up 645 00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:44,920 his tunnel boring machine with the Eye of the Needle. 646 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:46,240 Yep, OK! 647 00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:58,280 His eyes and ears on-board is graduate shift engineer Ed Batty. 648 00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:04,480 We're now in the TBM control cabin, and from this little room 649 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:07,480 we can control all the systems on the machine. 650 00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:10,840 It's also where we control the navigation from as well. 651 00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:12,920 And the steering's here, basically. 652 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:16,200 These represent the rams, there's 22 rams, these numbers, 653 00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:19,440 so if you want to go down you put more pressure on the top. 654 00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:25,120 Although the team can fine-tune the direction of their tunnel, 655 00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:28,880 as they pass through the Eye of the Needle they need to be sure 656 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:32,360 they're lined up precisely with the tunnel's intended route. 657 00:41:33,720 --> 00:41:37,400 We're coming up to the Northern Line and it's under a metre below us. 658 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:39,040 That line will still be operating, 659 00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:42,120 so there's going to be the day-to-day commuters whizzing 660 00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:45,760 underneath us while we tunnel over the top, unnoticed. 661 00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:48,800 We'll even be able to hear the trains as we pass over, 662 00:41:48,800 --> 00:41:50,040 it's that close. 663 00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:52,200 And we only get one chance to build this tunnel 664 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:53,680 so we have to get it right. 665 00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:58,880 The team must know exactly where they are at all times. 666 00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:01,880 And, crucially, where they're headed. 667 00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:03,280 To guide them, 668 00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:06,400 they've rigged a clever device behind the head of the machine. 669 00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:11,680 It constantly fires a laser towards prisms - in front and behind - 670 00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:15,800 telling them if they're staying on track or veering off course. 671 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:20,480 They reposition this guiding light at each bend in the tunnel. 672 00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:24,080 This laser precision is critical to steering the tunnelling machine 673 00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:26,320 through the Eye of the Needle. 674 00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:34,800 So when we reach that position 675 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:37,320 we need to be super good at what we're doing. 676 00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:38,800 There's no room for error. 677 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:40,920 We've got a series of targets in the tunnel, 678 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:43,200 they keep being built as we build the rings, 679 00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:46,800 so this machine fires a laser at that position, it knows where it is. 680 00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:48,680 If you're on a straight bit of tunnel, 681 00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:51,360 the laser can go quite a distance without hitting anything. 682 00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:54,520 If you imagine we're on a curve, we need to move this quite often. 683 00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:56,600 There's a team of surveyors that come down here 684 00:42:56,600 --> 00:43:00,280 and their sole job is to make sure that bit of kit 685 00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:03,160 is in the right place and it's working accurately. 686 00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:08,720 THEY SPEAK SPANISH 687 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:19,440 The driver is just constantly keeping an eye, making sure 688 00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:23,080 he's in the centre of the target and taking the machine forward. 689 00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:27,200 No steering wheel, but it's all done more like a computer game, 690 00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:29,160 if you like, where he's trying to keep 691 00:43:29,160 --> 00:43:31,840 the arrow in the centre of the target screen. 692 00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:36,880 We'll be in tight control, so what's going on in here will be 693 00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:40,280 very precise and we have to be absolutely spot on. 694 00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:43,320 Oh... 695 00:43:43,320 --> 00:43:45,080 Yep, OK. 696 00:43:45,080 --> 00:43:48,480 They use the lasers to line the tunnelling machine up 697 00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:52,800 to pass over the Northern Line platforms and under the escalators. 698 00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:56,520 This is the closest a machine of this size has ever got 699 00:43:56,520 --> 00:43:58,200 to an operational railway tunnel. 700 00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:02,080 It's tight, it's going to be interesting, the next four or five shifts. 701 00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:04,840 It's not far off, it's all getting very exciting now. 702 00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:09,560 One stop west, over at Bond Street... 703 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:17,600 We've got a layout of the plan of where the cars are going 704 00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:19,680 to get positioned. 705 00:44:19,680 --> 00:44:23,240 ..Crossrail's engineers have modified their grout shaft here, 706 00:44:23,240 --> 00:44:26,760 so Bonhams can get 14 vintage cars into their saleroom 707 00:44:26,760 --> 00:44:28,760 for a multi-million-pound auction. 708 00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:31,280 It's the first time we've done something like this. 709 00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:33,800 We'll bring them down in here into Haunch of Venison Yard, 710 00:44:33,800 --> 00:44:36,640 which as you know is the back entrance of Bonhams. 711 00:44:36,640 --> 00:44:37,880 Whoa, whoa, whoa! 712 00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:43,520 It's pretty cool. It's a prestigious car, it's amazing. 713 00:44:43,520 --> 00:44:45,120 I would like to know how old it is 714 00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:48,000 and how it's in such good condition, it's amazing. 715 00:44:57,440 --> 00:44:58,560 As you are! 716 00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:05,000 Come on, boys! 717 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:06,960 This is ridiculously tight down here. 718 00:45:12,360 --> 00:45:15,320 This is the bit where we get very, very close to Crossrail. 719 00:45:15,320 --> 00:45:18,320 Anyway, we were going to use the cheapest car first off to see 720 00:45:18,320 --> 00:45:20,440 whether it worked, but anyway, we've got 721 00:45:20,440 --> 00:45:22,600 a £300,000 Clement as a test case. 722 00:45:24,240 --> 00:45:28,960 It's a 1903 Clement Talbot that's 110 years old 723 00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:31,440 and it's the oldest motor car in the sale. 724 00:45:36,720 --> 00:45:38,480 First one in, yes! 725 00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:41,440 So far, so good. We've got a one-car sale at the moment. 726 00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:51,800 As you can see, we've got a bit of a Rolls-Royce traffic jam behind us. 727 00:45:51,800 --> 00:45:54,320 We've got a Rolls-Royce 20 horsepower, 728 00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:56,520 which is a car from the late 1920s. 729 00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:06,120 It's good, keep it like that. 730 00:46:06,120 --> 00:46:10,680 Straighten up, keep coming, keep coming, keep coming... Straight. 731 00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:12,800 And the Rolls-Royce Phantom 1. 732 00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:17,800 With a combined value of almost £1 million, 733 00:46:17,800 --> 00:46:21,120 the first three cars make it through the pinch point without a scratch. 734 00:46:22,160 --> 00:46:23,640 Very, very heavy. 735 00:46:23,640 --> 00:46:25,640 Two and a half tonnes. 736 00:46:25,640 --> 00:46:29,280 You must have had your Weetabix this morning! Yeah, I did, yeah! 737 00:46:33,160 --> 00:46:35,800 It's quite nice, that - wouldn't mind it myself. 738 00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:37,560 If I had a chauffeur, I suppose. 739 00:46:54,680 --> 00:46:57,800 One, two three! It's very close. 740 00:46:57,800 --> 00:47:01,320 The Bentley S1 Fastback was the one that was most pressing on us 741 00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:03,920 with the width where the Crossrail gantry is. 742 00:47:04,920 --> 00:47:07,920 In their day, they were the fastest four-seater motor cars 743 00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:11,360 on the planet, so they were really quite an important motor car. 744 00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:22,120 OK, you're in. 745 00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:24,160 Jeez! 746 00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:28,480 Watch your back, here comes the Aston Martin DB6... 747 00:47:28,480 --> 00:47:30,040 Right, has it got brakes? 748 00:47:31,440 --> 00:47:33,520 The last few cars finally arrive. 749 00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:44,360 It was a case of working with one another. 750 00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:46,600 You've got to suffer some pain for the gain. 751 00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:49,480 You can land at Heathrow and literally get to us 752 00:47:49,480 --> 00:47:53,280 at New Bond Street in an obscenely short amount of time. 753 00:47:55,480 --> 00:47:58,800 If Crossrail didn't undertake this construction here, 754 00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:00,440 we wouldn't see the benefit. 755 00:48:01,480 --> 00:48:03,400 After a quick polish, 756 00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:06,880 the vintage vehicles are ready to go under the hammer. 757 00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:10,680 They sell for the grand sum of almost £17 million. 758 00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:20,480 C'mon, Tubsy, let's get down there. 759 00:48:20,480 --> 00:48:21,880 All right then, la. 760 00:48:21,880 --> 00:48:24,040 Over at the Liverpool Street site, 761 00:48:24,040 --> 00:48:28,120 Steve's keeping a close eye on two teams this afternoon. 762 00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:30,240 We were winning 3-0 at half-time. 763 00:48:31,720 --> 00:48:34,920 I've got a bit of a shrine to me team in the front of the van, 764 00:48:34,920 --> 00:48:36,720 the mighty Wolverhampton Wanderers. 765 00:48:36,720 --> 00:48:40,760 That's me monkey - he goes everywhere with me. Done some miles, he has. 766 00:48:40,760 --> 00:48:44,600 He's a big Wolves supporter and I'm a big Liverpool supporter, and 767 00:48:44,600 --> 00:48:48,600 he's very, very bitter, over anyone else who's in the Premiership. 768 00:48:48,600 --> 00:48:50,960 The ladies see this badge in your front window 769 00:48:50,960 --> 00:48:53,840 and they just flock to it and they can't help 'emselves. 770 00:48:53,840 --> 00:48:57,640 It's like a magnet for women. Yeah. 771 00:48:57,640 --> 00:48:59,400 Don't tell me missus. 772 00:49:06,640 --> 00:49:10,360 The extra 44 tonnes of ballast finally arrives. 773 00:49:17,840 --> 00:49:21,600 Steve can now disconnect and lift out the two giant tracks... 774 00:49:27,800 --> 00:49:30,520 Everything's going tickety-boo. 775 00:49:32,240 --> 00:49:34,760 Look at that, thing of beauty! 776 00:49:35,800 --> 00:49:38,280 He just needs one more thing to go his way. 777 00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:42,240 You'd have known if they'd have lost, 778 00:49:42,240 --> 00:49:44,840 cos your phone would've been going like mad. 779 00:49:44,840 --> 00:49:47,200 Everyone else would let you know. Yeah. 780 00:49:47,200 --> 00:49:50,240 I'm in a good mood now. Wolves have won 4-0 today. 781 00:49:50,240 --> 00:49:52,000 What more can you ask for, eh? 782 00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:54,480 4-0! Get in, my son! 783 00:49:59,560 --> 00:50:03,760 This is the right crane, isn't it? It's not the other one? 784 00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:07,320 It's final lift of the day, lads. Obviously it's the machine now. 785 00:50:07,320 --> 00:50:11,520 We're going to spin her in the hole so she's the right way round 786 00:50:11,520 --> 00:50:14,760 when she comes to going on the back of the wagon. 787 00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:17,400 We'll get this up and on, like. 788 00:50:17,400 --> 00:50:20,560 Let's do it, lads. Let's do it, let's fall in love? 789 00:50:27,000 --> 00:50:29,800 Me arse ain't hanging out, is it? 790 00:50:30,960 --> 00:50:33,800 The delays mean Steve can't start the biggest lift 791 00:50:33,800 --> 00:50:36,120 until the very end of the day. 792 00:50:37,240 --> 00:50:39,200 Right, you got the front end here 793 00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:41,600 just starting to come off the deck now. 794 00:50:41,600 --> 00:50:43,320 We might have to just inch it up 795 00:50:43,320 --> 00:50:46,080 to get over this cherry picker, mate, all right? 796 00:50:46,080 --> 00:50:47,520 Just pinch her up mate, 797 00:50:47,520 --> 00:50:50,080 just so it's going over the top of that Harris fencing. 798 00:51:01,680 --> 00:51:04,760 Hand you over to them lads, Nick, while I come up to the top... 799 00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:13,280 Whoa! Whoa! 800 00:51:14,560 --> 00:51:16,720 Just hang fire there. 801 00:51:16,720 --> 00:51:20,040 Yeah, spot on, mate, keep going down, keep going down. 802 00:51:20,040 --> 00:51:22,120 Weight's off, weight's off, Steve. 803 00:51:22,120 --> 00:51:24,520 Good man, sound job that, Nick, beautiful. 804 00:51:27,520 --> 00:51:30,080 All me lads are safe, 805 00:51:30,080 --> 00:51:31,840 no damage to any equipment, 806 00:51:31,840 --> 00:51:34,240 you can't ask more than that, can you? 807 00:51:34,240 --> 00:51:36,440 And Wolves have won 4-0 today. 808 00:51:36,440 --> 00:51:39,680 Win here for all this and a win for Wolves. 809 00:51:39,680 --> 00:51:43,120 Cheers, lads, thank you very much. High-five, Lee. 810 00:51:45,480 --> 00:51:47,120 C'mon, let's get up to t'North. 811 00:51:51,640 --> 00:51:54,200 With the site clear, work can now begin digging out 812 00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:58,120 the 40-metre-deep hole that will form Liverpool Street Station's 813 00:51:58,120 --> 00:52:00,680 new ticket hall. 814 00:52:00,680 --> 00:52:03,120 In four years' time, 815 00:52:03,120 --> 00:52:06,200 it will be packed with up to 70,000 commuters each day. 816 00:52:11,400 --> 00:52:13,560 Job done, the team can open Moorgate 817 00:52:13,560 --> 00:52:16,040 in time for the Monday-morning rush hour. 818 00:52:18,920 --> 00:52:21,560 Right, Craig, I'm going to open my side now. 819 00:52:21,560 --> 00:52:24,040 Right, your first cars are coming through. 820 00:52:34,400 --> 00:52:36,200 At Tottenham Court Road, 821 00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:39,680 the 1,000-tonne tunnel-building monster is finally entering 822 00:52:39,680 --> 00:52:41,560 the Eye of the Needle. 823 00:52:48,160 --> 00:52:50,920 Welcome, everyone, to Sunday morning, the 8th. 824 00:52:50,920 --> 00:52:55,120 This is the day Steve and Willie's team has been working towards. 825 00:52:55,120 --> 00:52:57,040 That's where we are at the moment, 826 00:52:57,040 --> 00:52:59,600 just touching the side of Charing Cross Road. 827 00:52:59,600 --> 00:53:03,800 We're under the site of the old Astoria Theatre, aren't we, Willie? Yep. 828 00:53:03,800 --> 00:53:06,000 Today, the tunnel boring machine 829 00:53:06,000 --> 00:53:09,120 will reach the narrowest point of its route across London. 830 00:53:10,280 --> 00:53:13,200 So the crossing starts on back shift this afternoon 831 00:53:13,200 --> 00:53:15,600 and I think we're going to be there. Yep. 832 00:53:15,600 --> 00:53:18,640 Today is the critical day, it's the start of passing over 833 00:53:18,640 --> 00:53:21,840 the Northern Line and so this is the critical point. 834 00:53:21,840 --> 00:53:25,400 The culmination of a lot of work over the last couple of months. 835 00:53:26,880 --> 00:53:29,640 So people getting off the train in the next hour or so 836 00:53:29,640 --> 00:53:34,600 will not realise that above their head is a 900-tonne, 837 00:53:34,600 --> 00:53:37,640 7.1-metre-diameter tunnelling machine. 838 00:53:39,320 --> 00:53:42,400 It's vital the crossing goes unnoticed, 839 00:53:42,400 --> 00:53:47,120 or passengers on the Tube platform below could panic. 840 00:53:47,120 --> 00:53:51,120 General comment just to say be aware of proximity of LU assets. 841 00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:53,520 I mean, I would like Ed to keep an eye on the belt. 842 00:53:53,520 --> 00:53:56,360 Yeah, just extra vigilance. 843 00:53:59,680 --> 00:54:01,640 So over the next 20 rings 844 00:54:01,640 --> 00:54:05,720 we're directly above the Northern Line platform. 845 00:54:06,960 --> 00:54:10,320 The Eye of the Needle. We're just about to go through it. 846 00:54:10,320 --> 00:54:12,160 PHONE RINGS 847 00:54:12,160 --> 00:54:13,800 Hello? 848 00:54:13,800 --> 00:54:16,240 Is that Ed? Hi, Steve, how you doing? 849 00:54:16,240 --> 00:54:19,840 We've got one more ring to go before the cutter head gets in line 850 00:54:19,840 --> 00:54:22,280 with the angle of the northbound line. 851 00:54:22,280 --> 00:54:25,840 Tim Morrison of LU said he was down this morning. 852 00:54:25,840 --> 00:54:29,760 He was there and he said he could hear the TBM and hear the miners. 853 00:54:33,240 --> 00:54:36,920 We're that close, so he can actually hear what we're doing here? 854 00:54:36,920 --> 00:54:39,560 Yes, he could hear, but that was with no trains running. 855 00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:42,920 Our one concern is that there are cracks within London clay, 856 00:54:42,920 --> 00:54:46,640 some of the water could ease out and find the simplest 857 00:54:46,640 --> 00:54:50,200 path of travel, which could be the big platform tunnel. 858 00:55:09,200 --> 00:55:12,040 The TBM cutter head is now directly above the Northern Line 859 00:55:12,040 --> 00:55:17,080 northbound station platform, so about 850mm below my feet 860 00:55:17,080 --> 00:55:21,920 is the crown of their tunnel, so not a big distance at all. 861 00:55:21,920 --> 00:55:24,440 You see where there's a blockwork wall here, 862 00:55:24,440 --> 00:55:26,080 just behind the tiled edge - 863 00:55:26,080 --> 00:55:29,200 that is pretty much the centre line where the tunnelling machine 864 00:55:29,200 --> 00:55:31,080 is actually crossing this structure. 865 00:55:31,080 --> 00:55:34,280 Sam is one of the guys who's been based down on the platform. 866 00:55:34,280 --> 00:55:37,800 He's specifically looking for any fluid ingress from the tunnelling machine 867 00:55:37,800 --> 00:55:40,880 because that's something that we are concerned is a possibility. 868 00:55:40,880 --> 00:55:44,760 The tunnelling machine at the moment is quite literally above the tunnel crown. 869 00:55:44,760 --> 00:55:47,680 There is that apprehension because there is a small risk 870 00:55:47,680 --> 00:55:49,440 that we could see some ingress, 871 00:55:49,440 --> 00:55:51,960 and so I guess that makes it more exciting. 872 00:55:57,880 --> 00:56:01,320 With the tunnelling machine now inside the Eye of the Needle, 873 00:56:01,320 --> 00:56:04,080 the team must continue their vigil throughout the night. 874 00:56:21,960 --> 00:56:24,240 As London sleeps... 875 00:56:26,480 --> 00:56:29,120 ..the 150-metre-long earth-eating giant 876 00:56:29,120 --> 00:56:31,200 continues its relentless drive. 877 00:56:40,240 --> 00:56:42,240 Willie, got an update where we are? 878 00:56:42,240 --> 00:56:45,720 Yep, we're building 3024 just now. 879 00:56:49,200 --> 00:56:53,120 The team - and machine - make it through the tight spot. 880 00:56:53,120 --> 00:56:54,840 Yep, OK! 881 00:56:54,840 --> 00:56:58,920 No passengers panicked, no platforms evacuated. 882 00:56:58,920 --> 00:57:01,680 We've passed over two platform tunnels 883 00:57:01,680 --> 00:57:04,000 with a 900-tonne tunnelling machine. 884 00:57:04,000 --> 00:57:05,720 That's even a first, I think. 885 00:57:05,720 --> 00:57:07,840 Yes, it is, yeah. Cheers. 886 00:57:09,240 --> 00:57:11,960 The lads have been working down here really hard 887 00:57:11,960 --> 00:57:14,440 and so have the guys up in the control room. 888 00:57:14,440 --> 00:57:17,520 A big relief. I'm chuffed that we've done it so well 889 00:57:17,520 --> 00:57:19,200 and we've had such good results. 890 00:57:19,200 --> 00:57:21,880 We've done it, yeah, got through the tricky spot. 891 00:57:21,880 --> 00:57:23,920 The trains have kept running, 892 00:57:23,920 --> 00:57:26,920 passengers haven't known that we've been there. 893 00:57:28,040 --> 00:57:31,760 It's been a great achievement and I'm glad to be part of that team. 894 00:57:33,040 --> 00:57:36,520 The team leaves a perfectly formed Tube tunnel in their wake. 895 00:57:41,960 --> 00:57:44,520 There are still two huge jobs to complete. 896 00:57:46,240 --> 00:57:49,520 Finish digging the 42 kilometres of tunnels... 897 00:57:49,520 --> 00:57:51,880 You can't be normal if you go underground, can you, 898 00:57:51,880 --> 00:57:54,360 earn your living in the bowels of the earth. 899 00:57:55,720 --> 00:57:58,040 ..and construct ten new stations, 900 00:57:58,040 --> 00:58:01,320 each the size of a cathedral, before the trains can run. 901 00:58:02,400 --> 00:58:05,160 It's difficult to appreciate the scale of it. 902 00:58:05,160 --> 00:58:10,280 The station is designed to deal with 32,000 people per hour. 903 00:58:10,280 --> 00:58:12,160 It's absolutely huge.