The first 100 m of Exploratory tunnel had started being excavated for the Brenner base tunnel overnight the 24th and 25th May. The TBM Serena started at the beginning of May, has now reached the threshold of the 100 m mark in the excavation of the exploratory tunnel towards Brennero. The TBM has a diameter of 6.8 m and is almost 300 m long; it weighs 1,200 tons with a continuous power of 2,800 kW.
The start-up of the TBM marks the start of a new phase in the construction lots 2-3, the largest of the BBT SE project. Starting in the Winter of 2016/2017, over 5 km of tunnels have been excavated, out of a total of 65 to be built. Thanks to the TBM, excavation speed will increase considerably as compared to excavations carried out by drilling and blasting. Besides this TBM, two more larger ones have already arrived the TBMs, called Flavia and Virginia have a diameter of 10.65 m, a length of 200 m and a continuous power of 4,200 kW, corresponding to 5,600 horsepower.
The pre-casted concrete segments for the inner lining of the lots 2-3 tunnels are produced at the Hinterrigger plant, in the Val di Riga site near the South portal of the exploratory tunnel. The plant will be fully operational in the second half of the year, producing up to 250 concrete segments every day with an average weight of 4.2 tons.
The launching of the two TBMs for the excavation of the main tubes, is expected in the first weeks of 2019. Over 700,000 m3 of raw material, necessary for the production of concrete, will come from the excavation in the granite of Bressanone. This will reduce the impact on the environment by avoiding excavations in other areas, road transport, air pollution, dust and noise.
Click at/16 and it/103 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit https://www.bbt-se.com/en/. 22/18.
