On 30 August 2021, after 6 months of excavation at a depth of 20 m under the municipality of Bourget and the simultaneous installing of the tunnel lining, the TBM Dorine arrived at the Rolland shaft and brokethrough at the last part of the first section of the Line 17 tunnel. Over the next 3 and a half months the TBM - weighing over 1,000 t, 120 m long with a 7 m diameter shield - was dismantled and transported back to the Verdun shaft site in Le Bourget from where it started. 

Then at the beginning of February the head of TBM Dorine was lowered into the Verdun shaft by a crane. The TBM will be ready in Spring to start excavation of the 2nd section of the tunnel connecting the Grand Paris Express’s lines 16 and 17, towards the Rolland shaft.  

Once Dorine has been completely reassembled, it will leave in Spring to excavate the second 1.2 km section, which will lead it to cross the Great Belt and the T11 tram line. Dorinne will be excavating between lines 16 and 17 in Le Bourget where the lines separate to go East and North. 

To follow the Grand Paris Express project please click here and fr/127 for the tunnelbuilder archive. Visit https://www.societedugrandparis.fr. 09/22.