Royal double breakthrough in Oslo.  After about 9 kilometers each through tough gneiss, on Tuesday, September 11, 2018 the twin tunnel boring machines from Herrenknecht "Queen Eufemia" and "Queen Ellisiv" achieved an historic double breakthrough near the city center of Oslo. The Follo Line Project is currently the country's largest infrastructure project and involves the construction of Norway's longest railway tunnel. The two 20 kilometer long tunnels connect Oslo with Ski further to the south and from 2021 will shorten travel time for commuters by half.  

Via live stream, on September 11, around 25.000 viewers around the world watched the almost simultaneous breakthroughs of the two Herrenknecht sister machines "Queen Eufemia" and "Queen Ellisiv". Not only for client Bane NOR and the joint venture Acciona-Ghella was it an historic day. The use of a total of four Herrenknecht tunnel boring machines (TBMs) for the major Follo Line Project was a first for the Norwegian tunnel industry too. It is an advance of mechanized tunnelling technology into a country where conventional tunnelling traditionally dominates. But Anne Kathrine Kalager, Project Manager at Bane NOR, is certain: "In future TBMs will be a realistic alternative in large projects, even in our extreme hard rock." Since late 2016 the TBMs with diameters of 9,900 mm each have been boring their way through tough gneiss over a total length of around 36 kilometers. Tunnel boring represents the majority of the long tunnel – or 18.5 km of a total of 20 km tunnel on the 22 km long stretch. Completion of the Follo Line Project is planned in December 2021. To read more please click here for the press release http://tunnelbuilder.com/News/Follo-line-project-Live-streaming-of-the-breakthrough-available-.aspx