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TBM finishes cable tunnel bore below Elbe
Polish airport tunnels shortlist POLAND – Port Polska has competitive dialogue underway with the four consortia shortlisted for design and construction of the tunnel and underground railway station beneath Poland’s new national airport. The consortia are: Mirbud (lead partner),
Kobylarnia, Torpol; Mostostal Warszawa (lead partner), NDI, NDI Sopot, Intercor; Porr (lead partner), Gülermak; and Strabag (lead partner), TYM-BUD Zakład Remontowo- Budowlany Waldemar Tymoszewski. Procurement is in two packages – the
eastern and central section. Awards are expected in early 2027 for construction start late in the year. The contract includes a 6km- long tunnel, varying in width from 50m to 160m, and the 16 million cubic-metre station hall that will house six platforms. The railway station beneath the airport will
connect with the high-speed rail network and regional and long-distance rail services.
TBM breakthrough on the power cable tunnel drive below the River Elbe in Germany. PHOTO CREDIT: Herrenknecht.
GERMANY – Tunnel boring has been completed for a 5.2km-long power cable link running under the River Elbe as a key link in the electricity grid strengthening project. The tunnel bore for the
carrier tube was performed by a 4.9m-diameter Herrenknecht Mixshield, which was launched in early 2025. Construction of the tunnel was
performed by ARGE Tunnel Elbx, which is a JV of Porr and Wayss & Freytag. The JV was commissioned by Porr, which is undertaking the tunnel project on behalf of SuedLink Elbe. Geology along the alignment of
the tunnel comprises of Lauenburg clay, peat, sand, and gravel as well as stones and boulders. The slurry TBM’s 25m-deep
launch pit called for diaphragm wall (D-Wall) construction up to depths of 50m-60m. The Factory Acceptance Test
(FAT) of the 190m-long, 700 tonne Mixshield, ‘Elsa’, was in mid-2024 with cutterhead drive power of 720kW and torque of 2369kNm. The cutterhead size enabled its transport to site to be undertaken as a complete component. In tunnelling, the water pressure
was up to 3.8 bar about 20m below the riverbed. The Mixshield’s
bentonite slurry flow rate was about 1200m3/hour. There were a dozen back-up gantries as the Mixshield systems had to work in a tunnel less than 5m wide. An average of 233 rings (4.6m OD) were erected each month (or 303m of tunnel built). Herrenknecht’s subsidiary VMT supported with navigation systems. The carrier tunnel is 4m ID and
will carry six high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission lines, each with a 525kV capacity. It is a key link in major infrastructure expansion efforts to strengthen the country’s energy infrastructure. The tunnel will also house the
associated building, safety, control and monitoring systems, as well as rails for the tunnel vehicles that will support access and transport for maintenance and repair activities during the operational life of the asset. The SuedLink project will enable the electricity generated by wind farms in northern Germany to reach the south of the country, some 700km away. The river crossing is a key part of the Suedlink grid expansion project, which stretches from Brunsbüttel, in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany to Großgartach in Baden- Württemberg. The operators of the transmission system are TenneT and TransnetBW.
Terratec success in Delhi INDIA – Contractor J Kumar Infraprojects has achieved first breakthrough on the Delhi Metro Phase IV Silver Line with a 6.61m-diameter Terratec TBM. The EPB machine, ‘Narayani’, bored 1.6km
through hard rock (more than 200 MPa in places) on the Vasant Kunj to Mahipalpur section of the Aerocity–Tughlakabad corridor of the project, which is being developed by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in its Phase-IV programme. The shield was equipped with a mixed-face cutterhead and hard-rock cutting tools. Muck removal and segment supply were managed by rail-bound, battery- powered equipment. Tunnel lining consists of 1400mm-wide segments in universal reinforced concrete rings (5 +1). Once complete, the Aerocity–Tughlakabad
corridor will improve connectivity across southern Delhi, linking the airport district with key residential and commercial centres and integrating with the wider Phase IV network.
Lima Line 2 finish PERU – Excavation of 27km of tunnels for Lima’s Metro Line 2 has been completed. The final breakthrough at Station 4
completed major tunnelling for Peru’s first fully underground metro line, and Lima’s largest urban mobility infrastructure
project.Consorcio Constructor Metro 2 Lima (CCM2L), comprising Dragados, Webuild, FCC and Cosapi, used two 10m-diameter TBMs on the project. The first 9km of tunnels from Municipalidad de Ate Station to San Juan de Dios Station were built using the NATM.
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