By Lynda Myer
Following commencing on-site activities, the TBM shield assembly process took over 9 weeks, while it was in the ongoing construction of the Scaleres tunnel’s the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) on the Fortezza-Verona line in Italy, SELI Overseas, a specialized subcontractor for the Munich-Verona railway axis project, and this collaboration was with the Dolomiti Consortium (Webuild and Implenia).
While the date for transporting the TBM shields to their final position is January, the assembly of the backup gantries will take place directly in the prepared launch cradle for the excavation of the 15.4 km Scaleres tunnel. Using conventional methods, the two construction windows of Scaleres tunnel (Forch and Albes) are due to be constructed and thease windows can expedite the construction of the main tunnel during its construction phase.
Stretching from Fortezza/Franzensfeste to the Forch window (3.5 km), building of the first section will be by conventional methods, whereas the second section involves traditional methods for the initial 200 m, followed by TBM for the remaining distance and will span from Forch to Albes (8.2 km). Meanwhile the third section, from Albes to the southern entrance (3.7 km), is again being realized with conventional methods.
Including the two main double-tube and single-track tunnels, Scaleres (15.4 km) and Gardena (6.3 km), the construction lot 1with 22.5 km length extends from Fortezza/Franzensfeste to Ponte Gardena/Waidbuck. Considering that construction of the Gardena tunnel is scheduled to be completed through conventional excavation, only the access windows at Chiusa and Funes utilizing TBM. Roughly 40% of the tunnel construction employs TBM, while the remaining 60% is carried out through traditional methods. Additionally, lot 1 includes two single-track tunnels connecting the new line to the existing line at Ponte Gardena station.
