Hand and Mechanical Excavation
We retain and actively invest in traditional hand-mined construction techniques, providing a specialist capability that remains critical where modern mechanised methods are not suitable. These methods include handworks and squareworks for tunnel construction, and timber shaft sinking, and are particularly effective in confined, sensitive or operational environments where new works must connect to existing assets with minimal disturbance.
With more than 800 skilled operatives ready to take on a challenge, we offer hand excavation solutions for situations where access, geometry, vibration limits or asset sensitivity prevent the use of TBMs, SCL or other trenchless plant. These techniques allow precise, incremental excavation with continuous control of ground behaviour, making them ideally suited to live infrastructure interfaces.
Handworks and squareworks tunnelling provide exceptional flexibility for short drives, enlargements, junctions and break-ins to existing tunnels or chambers. By progressing excavation in small, controlled stages with immediate support, we are able to manage settlement, vibration and structural interaction risks with a level of precision that is impossible to achieve using mechanised systems. This makes the approach particularly valuable around operational railways, highways, utilities and legacy underground assets. Timber shaft sinking remains a proven and reliable method for constructing access shafts in challenging ground or constrained locations. The technique allows excavation and support to be advanced together, providing stability in variable or water-bearing ground while maintaining a small surface footprint. Timbered shafts are especially effective where shafts must be formed adjacent to existing structures or within restricted urban sites.
