By Lynda Myer
The disassembling process of the Herrenknecht Tunnel Boring Machine named Serena has started in the exploratory tunnel of the Brenner Base Tunnel, beneath the Brenner Pass to a depth of 1400 m.
Comprising of a cutter head, a main drive, and a backup, this tunnel boring machine is 300-meter-long. Following digging 14.2km of the tunnel, Serena TBM completed its long journey on 24th November 2021, and currently, it is being dismantled inside the completed tunnel. Dismantling is being carried out by first disassembling the cutter head, which is 8 meters in diameter and has excavated the rock mass, and then moving on to the rest of the huge machine. It will be dismantled piece by piece and carried away through the newly excavated tunnel.
Additionally, in order to investigate the rock mass which is found under the mountain, an exploratory tunnel will be used. Tunneling of the two main tunnels towards Brenner was implemented in spring 2019 using Serena’s big sisters, the tunnel boring machines named Flavia and Virginia (cutter head 10.7 m each), they were able to proceed smoothly thanks to their younger sister Serena’s work.
You can follow this link to find out more about the Brenner Base Tunnel project.
