question archive Write an article on Cause of the Collapse of a Tunnel at Heathrow Airport
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Write an article on Cause of the Collapse of a Tunnel at Heathrow Airport. It needs to be at least 1500 words. The paper will discuss the collapse of the NATM tunnel at Heathrow Airport and also present some of the measures that could have been undertaken to prevent the fall.
The tragedy not only slowed the completion of the railway tunnel under the airport but also led to the expulsion of Piccadilly Line Services (PLS) to Heathrow airport. With no rail transport, a ruling was reached to open a provisional surface-level station at the border of the airport even as construction went on (Saveur 55). The path to the new station tracked the course of a long-abandoned channel referred to as "Broads Dock" (Connor 24). The Heathrow Junction station was located in Stockley Park, somewhat to the northeastern side of Heathrow Airport (Sherwood 49). Heathrow Fast Train, or class 332 trains, ferried passengers from Paddington to Heathrow Junction and back in only 12 minutes, and a fleet of express shuttle buses ferried the commuters the remaining distance to Heathrow Airport (Saveur 55). On 23rd June 1998, the Heathrow Express shuttle service instigated to Heathrow Terminals 1 to 3 railway stations, as well as Heathrow Terminal 4 (Saveur 55). Trains no longer passed through the Heathrow Junction, and within 10 days the railway line leading to the junction had been destroyed (Sherwood 49).
The heaviest fines ever were levied on Balfour Beatty and Geoconsult, in February 1999, by the British Health and Safety Executive following the collapse of the NATM station tunnels (Wallis 1). Balfour Beatty, the contractor of the £440 million venture, pleaded guilty to infringing two counts of England’s 1974 Safety at Work Act, which led to a fine of £1.2 million-plus another £100,000 toward prosecution expenses (Wallis 1). They were furthermore given only 14 days (2 weeks) to settle the fine.