Second section installed in the TK tunnel

16 September 2016


Poland - Crews successfully installed the second section for the TK tunnel in Warsaw on September 12, Mammoet announced, using a rapid bridge replacement technique.

The transport company said during a rapid bridge replacement, the replacement bridge is constructed on a site near the existing bridge and the existing bridge is removed only after construction of its replacement has been completed. Once the replacement is ready, the old bridge is taken out and the new bridge is installed, keeping the amount of time that the bridge cannot be used to a minimum.

For this project, the tunnel section was constructed on a site near the railway. Once the 3,200 ton tunnel section was ready for installation, part of the railway was removed and the tunnel section was transported to its final destination using 104 axle lines of Self Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs). The rapid placement technique was carried out by Mammoet, Strabag and a group of local subsidiaries.

The application of this approach – a first in Poland – allowed the tunnel section to be installed with only 18 days of disruption to train services, with the transportation of the tunnel section in only two hours. The installation of the second tunnel section marks the end of this project for Mammoet. Mammoet also installed the first tunnel section in June of this year.