By rosebell
Viviana is the given name to the first of the seven TBMs that is due to excavate the Lyon-Turin base tunnel.
The name of this machine, which is a Herrenknecht TBM and will dig the 9km tunnel between Saint-Martin-La-Porte and La Praz, in France, was in honour of the wife of Mario Virano, TELT’s first general director who died in June 2023 and was a key figure and supporter of the Lyon-Turin project.
With a 10.4m diameter, 180m length and 2,300 tonnes weight, the Herrenknecht TBM’s cutterhead is equipped with 61 cutters, whereas an integrated conveyor belt system will carry the excavated rocks to the surface.
The monthly advance speed of this TBM with a power of 8,100kW will be 300-450m and the responsibility of its operation is slated to be up to CO 6/7, the Italian-French consortium comprising Vinci Construction, Webuild, Dodin Campenon Bernard and Campenon Bernard Centre Est.
Including 11 operational construction sites on both sides of the Alps, above-ground and underground, the Lyon-Turin railway is under construction and one of the most important is the 6/7 construction site for the excavation of a total of 36km of base tunnel between Saint-Martin-la-Porte and Modane. As part of preliminary works, the excavation process of the 9km of tunnel, in parallel with the tunnel already constructed in 2019 by TBM Federica will be done by Viviana. The other two TBMs will excavate the twin-tube tunnel in the section between La Praz and Modane.
Boring of the two tubes of the base tunnel is not the only content of this construction site, which operates from two main access points, Saint-Martin-la-Porte and La Praz, it also includes the construction of service tunnels and the creation of the necessary safety infrastructure. While over than 41km of excavation work has already been completed of the 164km for the new railway line, a total of 46km of tunnels will be excavated.
According to TELT president Daniel Bursaux and general director Maurizio Bufalini: “The naming ceremony for Viviana was a decisive moment for the project.Over the next three years, seven TBMs will be progressively used to excavate the tunnel simultaneously, significantly speeding up the work. We are proud to participate in an initiative that will allow Europeans to be better connected by train in the future. Viviana represents not only a technical breakthrough but also a tribute to Mario Virano, who played a crucial role in our project.”
