By ashleykaren
The second of two tunnel boring machines has been launched on Lot H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons of the Brenner Base Tunnel. Ida, the 10.37m diameter Herrenknecht TBM, was launched from the Ahrental shaft near Innsbruck and will move south to drive the western main tube. It will bore an approximately 8.4km long tunnel.
Lilia, the first tunnel boring machine, was launched in May and is constructing the eastern main tube towards the Brenner Pass.
ARGE BBT, a consortium of Implenia, Webuild, and CSC, has the €651m (US$707m) contract for the works. Beginning from the Ahrental access tunnel, Lot H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons includes the building of the central tunnels heading north to Innsbruck and south to Pfons.
The works are due to be completed in the summer of 2028.
Martin Gradnitzer and Gilberto Cardola, BBT SE CEOs, claimed: “We are proud that exactly one year after the official start of tunneling work on this construction lot, mechanical driving is now also picking up speed. In tunnel construction, only perseverance and above all stamina help, because the deepest point of the BBT tunnels is around 1800m.”
The Brenner Base Tunnel will be a 55km railway tunnel extending from Innsbruck in Austria and Fortezza in Italy. Connecting to a current line south of Innsbruck will make the world’s most extended underground railway connection.
Last week the European Union promised an additional €700m (US$760m) investment for the project. Total EU funding has now reached €2.3bn (US$2.5bn) – almost half the cost of the main tunnel.
Governor of the Tyrol, Anton Mattle, said: “The Brenner Base Tunnel is not only the largest railway project in Europe, but for the citizens in our valleys it is also the hope for a sustainable shift of heavy goods traffic from road to rail.”
