Sedrun lags Gotthard final concrete push

8 February 2012

At the start of the year nearly all of the Gotthard Base Tunnel had received its final lining, apart from portions of the deep Sedrun Multifunction Station and the adjacent east tube there where work has now been accelerated. Railway equipment is being installed in the East Tube of the Erstfeld and Amsteg sections from the north portal and in the Bodio West Tube test section from the south portal.

Work has been stepped up at Sedrun to complete concreting including increasing aggregate production from two to three shifts. Four lining trucks are being used in the East Tube, whilst installation of the bench from the south end has also begun. Final lining of the cross-passages and services insets continues.

At the north end at Erstfeld the cut-and-cover stretch has been backfilled and profiled around the mining portal. The tunnelling works rail track is being removed whilst minor and rectification concreting is being carried out in the West Tube, and the main concrete batching plant on site is being removed.

Going south, In addition to completing lining between the Erstfeld and Amsteg sections, the railway benches have also been installed. The Amsteg access tunnel has been lined with sprayed concrete and an asphalt running surface laid.

In the Faido section the lining equipment in the east tube has been removed to Bodio (south portal) for dismantling, whilst that in the West Tube has been modified to complete lining of remaining vault/crown portions. A smaller lining set-up has been working at the multifunction station to complete remaining vaults, recently around Construction Logistics Cross Passage 2.

Concreting of 36 or the 41 cross-passages in the Faido section was complete. Work has started on a 2-storey structure adjacent to the West Tube to house technical rooms, with a final sprayed concrete layer to the vault applied, and temporary works facilities being removed. At the access tunnel portal protective rock fall nets are being installed and supply lines relocated before the portal building is constructed.

Bench construction for the 1028m-long Bodio test section in the West Tube is complete, while the East Tube continues to be used as a supply route for the TAT contracting consortium working in the Faido section.

Within electromechanical functions the appointed contractor for permanent hoist installation is mobilising for its work after being awarded the contract in November. The last major Gotthard Base Tunnel contract (Lot E for Auxiliary Built Structure Equipment) has been awarded to Arge EquipTec Gotthard (formerly Arge IMPAP) of Implenia Bau and Alpiq.

Work on the remaining railway systems in the Erstfeld-Amsteg-Sedrun east section were due to start in Mid-January following genera approval of the project system details. In the tunnel tubes the access control, personnel location, cooling systems, and power and communications for construction are being installed in the northern tunnels. In the Faido-Bodio west section there is progress with installing permanent lighting and emergency equipment in the cross-passages. The fibre-optic cable is also being installed in the running tunnels, and overhead conductor being accurately positioned.

During January laboratory tests were being carried out in preparation for railway site testing.