MHI-Duro Felguera Delivers TBM for Pajares TunnelMHI-Duro Felguera, the joint company established by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Duro Felguera, has completed the assembly of the TBM which will drive contract 4 of the Pajares rail bypass, which forms part of the high speed link between Asturias and Leon in northern Spain. The machine was officially delivered on 14th December, 2005 during a workshop ceremony attended by officials from ADIF - the high speed rail authority affiliated to the Ministry of public works -, the four civil engineering companies who will bore the tunnel, the maker of the TBM, MHI-Duro Felguera, and engineers from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Robbins, as well as representatives from Felguera Construcciones Mecanicas based in La Felguera in Asturias, who specialises in the manufacture of mechanical metal components for various sectors.ADIF has christened the machine with the name of L' Ayalga, from a nymph of the Asturian mythology. The blue and yellow colours are those of the Asturian flag and coincide with those of the Renault Formula 1, piloted by Asturia's Grand Prix world champion Fernando Alonso.Once the final touches have been given, one month will be necessary to haul the machine and two more months to reassemble it at the jobsite. The single shield hard rock TBM features a mixed face and is 10 m in diameter. From the Asturian village of Telledo, it will drive uphill a 10.3 km tunnel up to its final destination in Viadangos in Leon province. This is the west bore of the two parallel tunnels which cross the mountain between Pola de Gordon and Pola de Lena. Contract 4 will be built by Copcisa, Brues y Fernandez Construcciones, Azvi and Constructora Hispanica.The TBM weighs 1,900 tonnes, whereof 1,200 for the TBM itself and 700 for the back-up. Its length spans 110 metres. The nominal torque of the cutterhead is 26,000 kNm and the breakout torque is 39,000 kNm. It is the most powerful of the five TBMs for the Pajares scheme. The advance speed will be 2.25 m/hour.MHI-Duro Felguera's TBM for Pajares is the latest of two contracts, together with one of the biggest TBMs in the world (15 m in diameter) supplied for the modernisation of the M-30 orbital highway in Madrid. Robbins has been involved in the design and part of the supplies. Click es/55. Visit www.gdfsa.com/index.asp?MP=9&MS=34&TR=C&IDR=205 and www.robbinstbm.com 03/06.