
Following that on June 23 a 4.39m-diameter Terratec EPBM has broken through on the Ninth Ninth Bangkok Water Supply Project in Thailand, it marks completion of a challenging 3.76km tunnel drive under a major highway – delivered with surface settlement maintained within controlled limits despite complex geological conditions.
In order to tackling the geotechnical challenges of the project alignment, EPB TBM S105 was custom-engineered, whereas it is featuring a soft ground cutterhead with a spoke-type arrangement, injected tungsten carbide cutting tools, and a maximum cutterhead rotation of 2.4RPM, the machine was tailored to manage Bangkok’s notoriously variable soil conditions, including fine sand, clay, and high groundwater pressure.
The date of launching this machine was 14 February 2023.
While the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority project is designed to expand and upgrade the city’s potable water distribution network, Terratec S105 is one of three EPBMs supplied for the Ninth Bangkok Water Supply Project and the project is managed by contractor Italian-Thai Development PCL, includes more than 9km of tunneling in total.
With the aim of ensuring minimal surface impact, TBM S105 was equipped with active articulation, tail skin grouting, and automated bentonite and foam injection systems and is designed to work within the constraints of densely populated urban areas.