By Lynda Myer
Linking Göstritz and Fröschnitzgraben, Austria’s Semmering Base Tunnel has attained first breakthrough.
TBM Carl that was still located in the Fröschnitzgraben section of the tunnel faced with the miners in Göstritz, while a narrow passage in the cutting wheel allowed miners from the two construction sections to meet in the tunnel for the first time. At the moment the TBM is being dismantled.
Achieving the excavation of 24km – around 90% – of the 27.3km twin-tube tunnel is the intended landmark in this project.
In the section towards Fröschnitzgraben, less than 400m remains to be bored before the second is achieved, while around 300m needs to be dug towards Gloggnitz.
Completing five of them currently, the tunnel is being constructed from five locations, with 14 drives. The date of commencing work on the interior was 2020 and so far the concrete lining as been applied to 7km of tunnel.
The determined date for completing this project is 2030.
