With the breakthrough in the west main tunnel on 31 May, another central section of the 'H53 Pfons-Brenner' construction lot was completed. The breakthrough took place just north of the geologically complex Hochstegen area, about 1,200 metres below the Padauner Kogel, in the municipality of Steinach, not far from the Austrian-Italian border. A similar milestone had been reached in early May in the adjacent east main tunnel.
According to Michael Knapp, project manager for the 'H53 Pfons-Brenner' lot, this was a great success: “We have been working in a geologically challenging environment, but we succeeded once again. Our thanks go to the workers, surveyors, geotechnicians and contractors, and to all BBT SE employees, for their extraordinary efforts”.
Drilling and blasting excavation continues towards Brenner
After the breakthrough in the two main tunnels and the crossing of the Hochstegen fault zone, excavation work using drilling and blasting is advancing rapidly southwards.
All eyes are currently on the exploratory tunnel, located 10-12 metres below the two main tunnels: just over 400 metres are left to reach the Brenner Pass from the Austrian side as well. Once the excavation work here is completed, which is expected by next autumn, it will be the first ever cross-border underground connection between Italy and Austria.
