Construction News

31/03/2008

Russian Billionaire Buys World's Largest Drill

Chelsea Football Club owner and Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has bought the world's largest drill for $16bn.

Measuring 66ft in diameter, it is almost a quarter wider than its nearest rival, a 49-foot drill acquired by China to build a tunnel under the Yangtze.

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Mr Abramovich's drill is capable of boring a 19-meter-wide hole.

The $16 billion drill will be built in two years by German firm Herrenknecht.

According to news reports, Mr Abramovich wanted to construct a Channel Tunnel-style rail link between Siberia and Alaska. But a spokesperson has denied this.

German news agencies have suggested that Infrastruktura, Abramovich's Russian construction company, could make more than a billion dollars a year renting out the drill bit.

(CD/JM)

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