TBM Ida completes first 2km for Brenner Base Tunnel

Ida is excavating the West Main tunnel as part of the Austrian construction Lot H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons.

“Ida’s journey is certainly not an easy one. However, our TBM, having passed the Viggartal area, is showing great resilience and the ability to cope with challenges. Thanks are owed to the entire team, who work day and night with great professionalism and commitment, said H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons project manager Romed Insam.

TBM Ida was launched in June last year and progressed at an average of 12m a day to complete the first 2km of its 8.4km drive.

Ida is also installing the inner ring lining of the tunnel, with each ring consisting of six concrete segments weighing a total of approximately 60 tonnes each. 

BBT SE says the “feather in the cap” for H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons is the tubbing factory located on the construction site in Ahrental. The proximity to the tunnel will avoid approximately 27,000 lorry movements which would otherwise have been needed to transport the segments from the factory to the construction site.

The Ahrental factory, which went into operation just over a year ago, has produced and partially installed 2,360 complete rings – six ring segments plus one base segment per ring – from 16,520 segments produced so far.

TBM Lillia, which was launched in May last year, is excavating the East Main tunnel and completed the first 1km in December.