The TBMs driving the Brenner base Tunnel overcome extraordinary engineering challenges, working in extremely complex geological conditions. Flavia, in particular, is working under a colossal overburden of over 1,200 metres of rock, proving once again the technological and engineering excellence of this project.
Just like her twin machine, Virginia, which reached the Brenner in March of 2023 through the main east tunnel, Flavia also has two very important jobs. Not only is she excavating the west main tunnel, but she is also laying the tubbing ring segments, the prefab concrete elements that make up the tunnels’ final lining.
Between 2017 and 2024, just over 218,000 tubbing rings were produced in the plant in Hinterrigger, not far from Mules. These prefab concrete elements are hauled to the TBMs by rail and are installed by the machines as the final lining of the tunnels.
Once the final 500 metres have been excavated, a historical milestone will have been reached: not only will Flavia have reached the Brenner Pass, but the excavation work on the main tunnels in the Mules construction lot will have been completed. In total, to date, 185 km of the approximately 230 km of tunnels have been excavated.
In addition to TBM Flavia, four other TBMs are in operation in the BBT project: Ida (on the H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons construction site, in the western main tunnel moving southwards), Lilia (on the same construction site but moving southwards, in the eastern main tunnel), Wilma and Olga (on the H53 Pfons-Brenner construction site moving northwards, in the western and eastern main tunnels respectively).
With every metre excavated, the Brenner Base Tunnel is taking shape, bringing us all that much closer to more efficient, sustainable and fast mobility in Europe.
