On Wednesday 29 May 2024, the Société des grands projets christened Awa, the latest TBM for Line 18.  In June, Awa will start digging - from the future Guyancourt station - a 6.7 km tunnel in the direction of the Stade, near the Versailles-Chantiers station, where it is scheduled to arrive at the end of 2026. Its’ on the western section of Line 18.

This is the 30th TBM launch on the Grand Paris Express, and the third on Line 18, after the Celine and Caroline TBMs.

The Spie Batignolles-Ferrovial consortium is in charge of the construction of this tunnel that will connect 3 stations (Guyancourt, Satory and Versailles - Chantiers) and 8 service facilities. This section is scheduled to come into operation by the end of 2030.

The TBM Awa is 9 m in diameter and weighs 122 t: from 2021 to 2023 it excavated, under the name Celine, a 5.9 km long tunnel for Lot 1 of the eastern section of Line 18, between the towns of Palaiseau and Massy.

The patroness of the new TBM is Awa Camara, president of an association in Guyancourt, which supports the parents of disabled children. The name was chosen by the pupils of five fourth-year classes of the Paul Eluard secondary school in Guyancourt.  

For further information click here, and here and fr/127 for the tunnelbuilder archive also visit https://www.societedugrandparis.fr and https://fpa.fr.  23/24.