Construction |
Construction breakthrough
TBMs have been breaking ground in Canada and Australia, while new research has focused on the tunnels at a Swiss dam
A MAJOR CONSTRUCTION MILESTONE has been reached at Rio Tinto’s Kemano T2 hydropower project in British Columbia, Canada with the tunnel boring machine breaking through and completing its journey in October 2021. The Kemano T2 project involves the development of a second tunnel to carry water into the Kemano powerhouse, to ensure the long-term reliability of the power supply for Rio Tinto’s BC Works smelter in Kitimat. The TBM cut 7.6km through the rock in remote mountains over a period of 30 months, completing the route for the 16km tunnel that was started in the early 1990s. “This is a significant milestone towards finishing the second tunnel and securing the long term reliability of hydropower for Rio Tinto’s smelter in Kitimat, which produces some of the world’s lowest carbon aluminium,” commented Kemano T2 Project Manager Alex Jones. “Boring this tunnel is a highly-skilled and technical feat that has been achieved in an extremely remote location that is only accessible by air or sea. We thank all of our partners who are supporting this important project. It will ensure our operations continue to make a significant contribution to British Columbia’s economy into the future. We look forward to celebrating the completion of the project next year.” The TBM used was a 1300 tonne Herrenknecht machine, which was named tl’ughus by the Cheslatta Carrier Nation after a legendary giant monster snake and is decorated with artwork by Haisla Nation students. It is 190m long and more than 6m in diameter. The tunnel will be filled up with water in the middle
of the year, with the project expected to be completed in the second half of 2022.
Second Snowy TBM Webuild and its partners in the Future Generation
joint-venture recently celebrated the commissioning of Kirsten, the most technologically advanced of the three TBMs deployed for the development of the Snowy 2.0 pumped-storage scheme in Australia. Built specifically for Snowy 2.0 by Germany’s
Herrenknecht AG in collaboration with Webuild, the TBM was named after Australian astrophysicist Kirsten Banks. TBM Kirsten is a single-shield, open-mode machine designed to deal with hard rock conditions. Its most innovative feature is its ability to excavate at steep angles: up to 9% (five degrees) on declines and up to 47% (25 degrees) on inclines. With a diameter of approximately 11m, the TBM can
excavate up to 30m of rock per day. At 205m in length, it is one of the longest of its kind in operation in the world. It will be responsible for the emergency, cable
12 | January 2022 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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