Herrenknecht completes Barcelona’s third vertical shaft sinking

6 February 2020


Spain - On February 5 Herrenknecht announced its Vertical Shaft Sinking Machine (VSM) in Barcelona has completed three shafts in extremely confined space conditions.

The work is for a 175km-long section of high-speed rail from Barcelona to Perpignan, France. The shafts are for emergency exits and ventilation purposes.

VSM work started in early 2019 for the shafts with outer diameters of 9.8m and depths of 43.5m, 41m and 50m.

A detailed planning of job site logistics was necessary to allocate the key components of the shaft sinking equipment in traffic surroundings and to assure continuous progress at the same time, according to a spokesperson.

The first two shafts have been sunk successfully in 2019 with a maximum daily performance of 2.6m. The third shaft was completed at the end of January.