Molly the mole comes out of her hole

Wed, 4 April 2012

‘Molly the Mole,’ a 2.4 m diameter tunnelling machine, has now come to the end of her 1.2 km journey tunnelling a new storm water sewer under Airdrie, Scotland, and has been raised from the ground at a well-attended event.

The tunnel boring machine (TBM) began the tunnel last Scottish summer, and reached its final destination, the end of Airdale Railway Station Car Park, at the end of 2011.

Molly has now been unearthed at an official event attended by local councillors Jim Logue and David Stocks.

Scottish Water and its construction partners Byzak Ltf started work on the construction of a new stormwater network across Airdale and Coatbridge over one year ago.

The multi-million pound investment is to ensure environmental improvements to the area by reducing the risk of flooding in the area of the town centre and also by removing stormwater discharges into local rivers and burns.