Local students name VolkerTrenchless Solution’s new tunnel boring machine at Sizewell C

Earlier this month, students from Kesgrave High School and Stowmarket High School were invited to learn more about the project and vote on a name for the 1.2-metre diameter machine, which will be used to construct a pipeline for the desalination inlet works.

Following presentations from the client’s Enabling Works Team at the Sizewell C Visitors' Centre, students were introduced to the mTBM and the important role it will play in the project. In keeping with tunnelling tradition, tunnel boring machines are given female names in honour of Saint Barbara, the patron saint of miners and tunnellers.

After votes were counted, the winning name was revealed as Ada, in recognition of Ada Lovelace, the pioneering mathematician widely regarded as the world's first computer programmer.

The visit gave students a valuable insight into the engineering, innovation and planning behind the Sizewell C project.

A naming ceremony for Ada took place on the site earlier this week, marking an important milestone for the project and celebrating the students' role in naming the machine.

VolkerStevin and VolkerTrenchless Solutions are proud to play a key role in delivering critical infrastructure at Sizewell C as part of the Civil Works Alliance, and to support initiatives that inspire the next generation of engineers through meaningful engagement with local communities.