A bit of history
SCROLL DOWN
The idea of building a summit tunnel under the Brenner occurred to the Italian engineer Giovanni Qualizza as far back as 1847. But it was to be another 160 years before a base tunnel was built.
| Construction milestones | |
|---|---|
| 20/08/2007 | Start of construction on the Mules access tunnel (Italy): 1.8 km, slope 9.3 %, cross-section 92 m², excavated by blasting |
| 28/04/2008 | Start of mechanized excavation of the Aica exploratory tunnel (Italy): 10.5 km, with a double-shield tunnel boring machine (6.3 m in diameter) |
| 23/10/2009 | Completion of the Mules access tunnel |
| 04/12/2009 | Start of construction in Austria: Sillschlucht (Sill gorge) exploratory tunnel: 5.4 km, cross-section 26 m², excavated by blasting |
| 16/07/2010 | Start of construction on the Ahrental access tunnel (Austria): 2.4 km, cross-section 120 m², excavated by blasting |
| 03/11/2010 | Breakthrough on the exploratory tunnel Aica-Mules |
| 04/04/2011 | Start of excavation work on the Wolf I construction lot (Steinach am Brenner, Austria): logistic tunnels Saxen tunnel and Padaster tunnel |
| 19/09/2011 | Start of excavation of the Ampass access tunnel (Austria): 1,350 metres in length, cross-section 35m², slope 10%, excavated by blasting |
| 07/10/2011 | Start of construction work on the "Periadriatic Seam" construction lot (Italy): 3.7 km of main tunnels, 1.5 km of exploratory tunnel, contract amount 53.1 million Euro |
| 24/06/2011 | Breakthrough on the Padaster tunnel (WOLF I construction lot, Steinach a.Br./Austria) |
| 24/02/2012 | Breakthrough on the Saxen tunnel (WOLF I construction lot, Steinach a.Br./Austria) |
| 11/10/2012 | Completion of the Ahrental access tunnel = Breakthrough on the access tunnel to the Sill gorge exploratory tunnel |
| 01/07/2013 | Completion of the Ampass access tunnel |
| 04/12/2013 | Start of excavation work on the Wolf II construction lot (Austria): Access tunnel: 4 km, cross-section 120 m², slope 10% spoil removal tunnel 950 m, works for the Padaster valley disposal site |
| 11/12/2013 | Completion of the Sill gorge exploratory tunnel |
| 22/04/2014 | Start of works on the Patsch shaft (Austria), 180 m, excavated by blasting |
| 04/09/2014 | Completion of the Patsch shaft (Austria) |
| 18/09/2014 | Start of excavation work on the Tulfes-Pfons construction lot (Austria): 380 million Euro, 38 km, Construction time 55 months |
| 31/10/2014 | Start of works on the Isarco river underpass construction lot (Italy): 301 million Euro, 4.2 km of main tunnels, 1.8 km of connecting tunnels |
| 14/02/2015 | Breakthrough on the 950 m spoil removal tunnel (Wolf II construction lot, Austria) |
| 19/03/2015 | First blast on both main tunnels in Ahrental (Austria) in the presence of EU-Commissioner Violeta Bulc and the Ministers of Transport of the 7 Alpine States |
| 25/03/2015 | Completion of the construction lot "Periadriatic Seam" |
| 26/09/2015 | Start of mechanized construction of the Ahrental-Pfons exploratory tunnel (Austria): 17 km, 200 m open gripper tunnel boring machine (8 m in diameter) |
| 22/12/2015 | Completion of the Wolf access tunnel |
| 05/01/2016 | Start of excavation on the Wolf exploratory tunnel |
| 06/12/2016 | Start of excavation work on the Mules 2-3 construction lot: 993 million Euro, 40 km of main tunnels, 15 km of exploratory tunnel, 10 km logistics and connecting tunnels, construction time 7 years |
| 11/05/2017 | Tulfes- Pfons construction lot: Breakthrough east connecting tunnel |
| 04/07/2017 | Tulfes- Pfons construction lot: Breakthrough west connecting tunnel |
| 20/07/2017 | Tulfes- Pfons construction lot: Breakthrough emergency tunnel for the Innsbruck bypass |
| 04/12/2018 | Breakthrough south portal in Fortezza |
| 02/02/2018 | Start of excavation work on the Pfons-Brenner construction lot: 966 million Euro, 37 km of main tunnels, 9 km of exploratory tunnel, 6 km logistics and connecting tunnels, construction time 6 years |
| 12/02/2019 | Tulfes-Pfons construction lot: Breakthrough Ahrental evacuation tunnel |
| 29/03/2019 | Start of excavations on the "southern" exploratory tunnel from Wolf to Brenner |
| 30/04/2019 | 100 km of tunnels have been excavated |
| 22/05/2019 | Mules 2-3 construction lot: Start-up of the last of the three TBMs excavating the Brenner Base Tunnel towards the Brenner |
| 01/07/2019 | Start of excavations on the Pfons-Brenner construction lot |
| 29/11/2019 | 50% of the excavation work on the Brenner Base Tunnel is complete |
| 01/03/2020 | Start of operations at Ahrental power station by Innsbrucker Kommunalbetriebe (IKB) and BBT SE |
| 06/07/2020 | Exploratory tunnel breakthrough in the Steinach am Brenner area |
| 03/08/2020 | Start of Sill Gorge construction lot - construction works taking place mostly above ground |
| 15/10/2020 | Isarco underpass construction site: start of excavations below the river |
| 10/11/2020 | Isarco underpass construction site: first breakthrough below the Isarco river |
| 08/02/2021 | Isarco underpass construction site: relocation of the existing rail line completed |
| 11/03/2021 | Isarco underpass construction site: start of ground freezing for the first main tube |
| 28/10/2021 | Start of the excavation works at the future northern portal: Innsbruck-Sill Gorge (western main tunnel tube) |
| 24/11/2021 | Thanks to the tunnel boring machine "Serena", after 3.5 years and 14 km of excavation northwards, one of the BBT tunnel tubes reaches the state border at the Brenner Pass for the first time - 1,450 m below the earth's surface |
| 04/05/2022 | Ground-breaking ceremony at the Hochstegen construction lot |
| 18/05/2022 | With the breakthrough between the Mules and the Isarco River Underpass construction lots, we now have a continuous unbroken tunnel between the southern portal of the BBT and the State border at Brenner |
| 07/07/2022 | Ground-breaking ceremony at the Sill Gorge-Pfons construction lot |
| 28/03/2023 | Construction lot "H61 Mules 2-3": Arrival of TBM "Virginia" at the State border at Brenner - after 4 years and 14 km of excavation on the east main tunnel northwards |
| 02/05/2023 | Construction lot "H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons": Start of mechanised excavation with TBM "Lilia" (10.4 m in diameter) for 8.1 km of excavation of the east main tunnel southwards |
| 04/05/2023 | Construction lot "H53 Pfons-Brenner": Start of excavation work on 15.2 km of main tunnel using a TBM, 10 km of main tunnel using drilling and blasting, 1.3 km of exploratory tunnel, 2.6 km of cross-connecting tunnels, construction to last approx. 6 years, 959 million Euro |
| 27/06/2023 | Construction lot "H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons": Start of mechanised excavation with TBM "Ida" (10.4 m in diameter) for 8.4 km of excavation of the west main tunnel southwards |
| 04/12/2023 | Construction lot "H71 Isarco river underpass": Completion of the construction works |
| 15/12/2023 | Construction lot "H52 Hochstegen": Completion of the construction works |
In 1971 the idea of a tunnel at the Brenner was dusted off again. The UIC, the International Union of Railways, commissoned a study for a new Brenner railway with a base tunnel. By 1989 three feasibility studies had been drawn up which formed the basis for further planning of the Brenner Base Tunnel.
This was the start of the planning activities. In 1994, the European Union included the Berlin-Naples corridor in the list of priority projects. Ten years later, Austria and Italy signed a State Treaty to build the Brenner Base Tunnel. In that same year, what is today the BBT SE was established. Construction work on the exploratory tunnel began in 2008.