By ashleykaren
The first of the two TBMs for the H41 “Sill Gorge-Pfons” construction lot of the Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT) has formally passed its acceptance test at Herrenknecht AG in Schwanau, Germany.
The single-shield tunnel boring machine which has a drilling head diameter of 10.37 meters, a length of about 160 meters and a weight of 1,440 tons (containing its backup system) will be named “Lilia”.
After the manufacturer’s acceptance, the TBM is disassembled piece by piece and carried to the assembly chamber in Ahrental, south of Innsbruck.
The assembly on site in the mountain will start at the end of January 2023. After its reassembly, the “factory inside the mountain”, Lilia, will begin its work in spring 2023 from the assembly chamber in Ahrental, on its around 8.1-kilometre-long excavation southwards in the “east main tunnel”, whose lot boundary extends into the municipal area of Navis.
However, the TBM’s naming was a very special event this time, i.e. in association with the St.Peter-Ellbögen primary school, located in the project area of this construction lot. The principal, teachers and all the pupils were instantly excited about BBT’s appeal. During their science class, the project was discussed in detail, and time was devoted to the tunnel construction topic.
BBT’s project size impressed the students, and they were eager to find out more about this topic.
And last but not least, the BBT team looked for a name with pupils. Each student was allowed to make a suggestion and put it in a ballot box.
Out of five favored names, “Lilia” finally emerged as the winner through a democratic vote. The children and the teachers are very happy to “now be a part of this breathtaking and important large-scale project”.
