On 15 and 16.02.2018 Swietelsky Tunnelbau GmbH & Co KG, a subsidiary company of the Swietelsky group, reached an important milestone in the construction of the Froeschnitzgraben tunnel (SBT 2.1). The three heaviest components of the first TBM were lowered into the 410 m deep Froeschnitz 1 shaft. These were the main drive (109 t), the cutter head (78 t) and the segments erector (63 t). The biggest challenge was the main drive, due to its high weight and large dimensions it had to be centred with exact precision as there were only millimetres to spare.

Following a successful assembly, the first TBM is scheduled to start tunnelling toward Lower Austria in May 2018. Late in 2013 Swietelsky and Implenia were contracted by site owner Oebb-Infrastruktur AG to construct the 13-km-long Froeschnitzgraben middle tunnel section (lot 2.1) .

The Semmering base tunnel (SBT) lot 2.1, which requires TBM work (8.6 km) and mining activities (4.3 km), consists of 26 cross passages, an emergency stop bay and two ventilation shafts at over 400 m deep that are designed to serve the entire construction site. Overcoming the geological conditions in the drilling region constitutes a major challenge for this large-scale project. The provision of building materials and the transportation of excavated rock away from the building sites are also complex undertakings. Work has been underway since summer 2014, with a planned completion date of 2024. The Semmering base tunnel (SBT) forms part of the new Austrian southern railway line that runs from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic coast, making it a key trans-European route. With a total length of 27.3 km the SBT connects Lower Austria with Styria.  Click at/24 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit https://www.swietelsky.com/en/. 12/18.

https://www.swietelsky.com/konzern/aktuelles/detail/?no_cache=1&News%5Bitem%5D=176&News%5Bmode%5D=DETAIL