At the Mules construction site, construction works for the Brenner Base Tunnel are proceeding at full speed. The excavation northwards, towards the Brenner Pass, is carried out by 3 tunnel boring machines. The first one (“Serena”) is carrying out the excavation for the exploratory tunnel with a cutting head 6.8 m in diameter. It is excavating ahead of machines “Virginia” and “Flavia”, which are 10.7 m in diameter and carry out the excavation for the main tunnels.
Virginia was the one to stand out from her “sisters” given the significant production carried out in March. As a matter of fact, TBM “Virginia” (east main tunnel) excavated 860 m in March, which was accomplished thanks to a number of factors such as the quality material found during excavation (carbonate and limestone schists). Usually, tunnel boring machines work at a rate of 480 m per month, with a daily production of 15 m. In March, the daily average production of the machine was 27.7 m with a record production in one day of 36.75 m.
In February, TBM Virginia had already achieved great results with 730 m of excavation.
Antonio Spaziani, Construction Manager, and Antonio Voza, Project Manager: “Such results were only possible thanks to great teamwork!”
