Excavations on the Tulfes-Pfons construction lot began on 18.09.2014 with a solemn ceremony.

The BBT project along the 9,000 km north-south corridor from Helsinki to La Valletta is very important and the highest possible level of financing from EU will be at 40 percent.

The Tulfes-Pfons construction lot consists of several tunnels with an overall length of 38 km. An emergency tunnel that can be used by wheeled vehicles is to be built along the existing Innsbruck railway bypass; it will be 9 km-long, and the excavation cross-section is 35 sq m. The emergency tunnel will be driven by drill/blast from Tulfes westwards and from the Ampass access tunnel both eastwards and westwards. Construction of the emergency tunnel should be finished in Summer, 2017.

As of Spring 2015, both connecting tunnels between the Innsbruck bypass and the two main tunnels of the Brenner Base Tunnel will be excavated by drill/blast, starting from the Ampass access tunnel. These tunnels are each 4.5 km-long, and construction time should be 3.5 years.

Below the town of Innsbruck-Igls and Patsch, the 500 m Innsbruck emergency stop will be built, with construction lasting from Summer, 2015 to April, 2018.

Furthermore, the 15 km-long exploratory tunnel will be bored from Ahrental towards Steinach am Brenner using a 180 m-long, 8 m-diameter TBM. The TBM is expected to begin excavation in Summer of 2015 starting from the completed chamber in Ahrental and continue until Spring of 2019, moving southwards. The tunnel will be stabilized with shotcrete.

The contracted amount for the largest construction lot tendered so far is about EUR380 million. The JV Strabag/Salini-Impregilo is responsible for the works, which involve the construction of 38 km of the Brenner Base Tunnel system over 55 months. Click at/16 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit http://www.bbt-se.com/en/home/. 39/14.