High Speed 2: ‘Do you trust engineers?’

• I HAVE just received another High Speed 2 circular on how they will dig using a technique that doesn’t use one of those huge tunnelling machines.

They will dig more gradually which is better… but do you trust engineers? I don’t.

For all the wonderful progress in engineering infrastructure, it is never foolproof, especially in a built-up area.

Take one example of the collapse of the Cologne city archive in 2009. It was northern Europe’s largest collection of documents and artefacts; some dating back to the Romans, and all reduced to rubble.

The old building and two surrounding buildings, with mismanagement and faulty construction of a metro line beneath the old city centre was found to have led to the building’s collapse.

Ground movement and ground water has a ripple effect after all.

PRIMAVERA BOMAN, NW1