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Buenos Aires water tunnel TBM progress


Strabag casts HS2 segments UK – Strabag recently started to manufacture more than 83,000 concrete tunnel segments at Hartlepool docks to be used for its construction work on HS2 rail project in London. The tunnel segments are being produced


for the 5.47km-long, twin bored Northolt tunnel and, in the centre of the capital, the 8km-long twin-bored Euston tunnel. The rings are 8.8m o.d. and segments are 350mm thick. Almost 100 segments are to be produced daily. Skanska Costain Strabag joint venture


Above: Second Terratec EPBM on Buenos Aires water tunnel SOURCE: TERRATEC


ARGENTINA – The second of two EPBMs has been launched for the Río Subterráneo a Lomas tunnel in Buenos Aires. Italian contractor CMC di Ravenna


has deployed the 4.66m-diameter Terratec machine (S73, named ‘Juana’) for the final 5km length of the water supply tunnel. Shortly after launch, by the time it had erected 88 rings the EPBM had excavated 123.2m in one week. The 13.5km-long Río Subterráneo


a Lomas tunnel is a part of the multi-billion dollar Agua Sur system being built by Argentina’s national water and sanitation company AySA. It is the country’s most extensive water infrastructure project in four decades, providing fresh water access to 2.5 million inhabitants in the southern metropolitan area of Buenos Aires. The first 4.66m-diameter EPBM


(S74, ‘Eva’) was launched in September 2020. It completed the first drive, comprising an 8km-long section of the tunnel, at the end of 2022. To launch the first machine


during the Covid-19 pandemic, CMC di Ravenna and Terratec secured permission from Argentina embassies in different countries to send a team of international technicians to the project site. The EPBMs have been designed


to handle the diverse soft ground geology along the project alignment, encompassing silts,


8 | October 2023


sandy silts, and some cobbles. Equipped with high-torque soft ground cutterheads featuring a spoke-style design boasting a 49% opening ratio, the TBMs incorporate cutting tools comprising multiple fixed and back-loading knife bits. This configuration enables not only rapid advancement but also minimises interventions. Both EPBMs were launched


and received from shafts. The first launch shaft has four interconnected circular sectors at the bottom area. The shaft is 45m in length, 12m in width, and 25m in depth. The tunnel excavation is at an


average depth of 25m, commencing with an approximately 400m radius curve before continuing along a predominantly straight alignment, with a maximum slope of +/- 2%. As the machines progress, the water tunnel structure is built with an erected precast concrete lining ring of six segments (four parallelograms and two keys), each measuring 250mm thick and 1400mm wide. The Agua Sur System includes


several major infrastructure components, including: a raw water intake; a 23km-long water conveyance tunnel, built in two stages; two pumping stations; a 46km network of pipe connections. Also, the General Belgrano Water Treatment Plant to increase its production capacity.


(SCS JV), is constructing HS2’s London tunnels, transporting the segments the project’s Logistics Hub in the city by rail to help reduce the carbon footprint. From the Hub, segments are to be transported by electric multi-service vehicles (MSV) to the construction sites. The precasting factory, previously used


for fabrication of oil rigs, has been fitted out with an automated segment carousel and reinforcement hall that uses robots, controlled by telemetry, to make rebar cages for each segment. Strabag has also brought the rail head adjacent to the site back into use, reinstating rail connections. The investment in the site is part of a long- term UK investment strategy.


L&T bags high-speed contract INDIA – Larsen & Toubro has added to its slew of work for the Mumbai Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Project by winning the final civils package. The National High-Speed Rail


Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL) awarded the contractor Package C-3, which includes on its 135km-long alignment from Shilphata to Zaroli village includes six mountain tunnels as well as viaducts, bridges, crossings, and three elevated stations – Thane, Virar, and Boisar. The 508km project will connect Mumbai


with Ahmedabad in Gujarat. It has nine tunnels, including India’s first undersea tunnel – 7km long, part of a 21km-long tunnel between Bandra-Kurla Complex and Shilphata, in the state of Maharashtra. This tunnel is part of a different lot, C-2, awarded to Afcons Infrastructure. L&T was previously awarded the civil and


building works packages C-4, C-5, C-6, and T-3 track works. In a consortium led by Japanese company Sojitz Corporation, it will also complete lot D-2 for Sabarmati Depot, in Gujarat.


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