Safe hyperbaric entry at standard pressures for cutterhead inspection and tool replacement

What is Compressed Air Interventions (≤3.0 bar)?

Standard compressed air hyperbaric entry into TBM excavation chambers for cutterhead inspection, cutter tool change, and face maintenance at pressures up to 3.0 bar.

What's Included

Pre-intervention face pressure assessment and compressed air supply verification
Personnel lock (manlock) operation and decompression schedule management
Cutterhead inspection — visual and tactile assessment of disc cutters, scrapers, copy cutters, and wear plates
Disc cutter and scraper replacement using hydraulic torque tools
Copy cutter and gauge cutter exchange
Cutterhead structural inspection — welds, wear ribs, spokes, and buckets
Removal of obstructions (boulders, steel, debris) from the excavation chamber
Minor structural repairs to the cutterhead and bulkhead
Post-intervention face closure and pressure equalisation

Why This Matters

Timely cutterhead maintenance prevents unplanned TBM stoppages and protects the tunnel face from instability. KCC's compressed air teams minimise downtime while maintaining the highest safety standards for workers operating in pressurised environments.

Related Services in Hyperbaric Interventions

High-Pressure Compressed Air — Heliox / Trimix

High-pressure interventions above 3.0 bar using heliox or trimix breathing mixtures to eliminate nitrogen narcosis and reduce DCI risk. Conducted under IMCA D 045 (High Pressure Compressed Air Supplement) and EDTC HPCA decompression tables.

Saturation Hyperbaric Interventions

Saturation-based hyperbaric interventions for extended TBM maintenance campaigns, eliminating repeated decompressions and DCI risk. Workers live at intervention pressure via a pressurised transfer shuttle (PTS) for multi-day campaigns.

TBM Cutterhead Tool Change & Inspection

Planned and emergency disc cutter, scraper, and copy cutter replacement under hyperbaric conditions. Includes full wear assessment and structural inspection of the cutterhead in pressurised TBM environments.

Part of

Hyperbaric Tunnelling

Specialist hyperbaric intervention services for TBM and bored tunnel projects operating under compre

View all Hyperbaric Tunnelling services

IMCA ADCI HSE HKCP

IMCA · ADCI · HSE · HKCP Compliant

All diving operations conducted to IMCA, ADCI, HSE & HKCP standards

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