Breakthrough of the 11.34m diameter Herrenknecht EPBM ‘Katie’ in June saw the completion of boring of the second tube on south west Germany’s Bossler Tunnel.
Undertaken by the ARGE ATA Tunnel Albaufstieg – consisting of Porr Deutschland GmbH, G. Hinteregger & Söhne Baugesellschaft m.b.H., Östu-Stettin Hoch-und Tiefbau GmbH and Swietelsky Baugesellschaft mbH – the event near Mühlhausen in Tale in Baden-Württembergmarked the completion of some 18,000m of tunnelling through sandstone, limestone and claystone rock. Breakthrough marks a major milestone in the construction of the Stuttgart-Wendlingen-Ulm railway line, which is expected to go into operation in 2022.
The ARGE ATA Tunnel Albaufstieg completed the first tube in November 2016. The EPBM was then disassembled and transported back to the launch area and prepared for boring of the second drive. From April 2017, the machine once again worked its way continuously through the rock.
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Remarkable rates of advance were achieved during construction, in June 2015, just two months after the start of the drive in the first tube, Katie reached the thousand meter mark, and was able to cover up to 38m per day – and after six months she had already excavated 3km.
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