The second
of two new 4.66m diameter TERRATEC Earth Pressure Balance TBMs to be delivered
for a 13.5km potable water tunnel system, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
At the
end of July, TERRATEC celebrated the successful factory acceptance testing of
the second of two new Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) that will be used to
excavate the Río Subterráneo a Lomas tunnel, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Along with
its sister machine, the 4.66m diameter S74 TERRATEC Earth Pressure Balance Machine
(EPBM) will be deployed by Italian contractor CMC di Ravenna on a 13.5km-long tunnel
that will carry drinking water from the newly expanded General Belgrano Water Treatment
Plant, in the city of Bernal (Quilmes district), to the city of Lomas de
Zamora. The tunnel is a key component of the multi-billion-dollar Agua Sur
system that is currently being built by Argentina’s national water and
sanitation company AySA. Financed by the Government and the Development Bank of
Latin America (CAF), it is the country’s largest water infrastructure project
in 40 years and will provide access to fresh water for 2.5 million inhabitants in
the southern metropolitan area of Buenos Aires. “AySA is confident that it has
chosen the right contractor in CMC for this important project and we have
witnessed the close relationship between CMC and its equipment supplier
TERRATEC during this week of testing,” said AYSA Argentina Project Manager, Pablo
Estigarrivia. “It fills us with confidence that this strong team will work
together with the single goal of completing this project as rapidly as possible.”
The 4.66m diameter TERRATEC EPBMs have been designed to tackle the variable
soft ground geology along the project alignment, which ranges from silts to
sandy silts with some cobbles expected. The TBMs’ high-torque soft ground
cutterheads feature a spoke style design with a 49% opening ratio and cutting
tools consisting of fixed and backloading knife bits to ensure rapid
advancement and minimum interventions.
The tunnel will be excavated at an
average depth of 25m, beginning with an approximately 400m radius curve and
continuing along an essentially straight alignment, reaching a maximum slope of
+/- 2.0%. As the machines progress, they will install a precast concrete
segmental lining ring consisting of six (four parallelograms and two keys)
250mm thick, 1400mm wide, segments. “From
the initial concept to this point in the process it has been refreshing working
with TERRATEC.
We are pleased that TERRATEC has delivered both of these
machines on time and to specification and we look forward to getting to work on
the project with
them,” says
CMC di Ravenna Argentina’s Project Manager, Pablo Guevara.
In recent
years, TERRATEC’s order book has demonstrated significant growth around the world.
Machine performance and client satisfaction have provided the foundations of a loyal
customer base making TERRATEC the first choice for more and more contractors.
TERRATEC’s
large-diameter TBM facility has produced more than 20 new machines for international
projects in the past twenty eight months. The full press release can be read
here http://terratec.co/NewsInfos/detail/72
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