Barhale to hire out tunnel boring kit

Tunnelling specialist Barhale Construction has started hiring out its tunnel boring machines (TBM) and other equipment to third parties. The company has a fleet of six Iseki and two Akkerman TBMs ranging in size from 600mm to 1.5m.

When the machines are not being used for Barhale's own contracts, the company will hire them out with operators through its plant division BCS.

Associated equipment (slurry separation, power packs and settlement tanks) is also available for hire.

"As we are primarily a tunnelling contractor, we can offer our hire customers expertise, advice and back-up - that's where we differ from our competitors," said tunnelling manager Graeme Monteith. However, at the moment he said all his machines are working on Barhale contracts.