Four construction sites are currently in operation, two in Austria and two in Italy. You can see the details of the construction lots by clicking on our interactive route plan. The excavation progress reports of the individual tunnel structures in the various construction lots are updated weekly. Work progress is shown on a graph.
Tulfes-Pfons
GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE CONSTRUCTION LOT
This construction lot, worth 380 million Euro, was awarded to the Strabag/Salini-Impregilo bidding consortium in Summer of 2014. Excavation works began in September 2014 and will last until Spring of 2019. The construction lot includes 38 km of tunnel excavation work.
It consists of several structures:
- Tulfes emergency tunnel
- Innsbruck emergency stop
- Main tunnel tubes
- Connecting tunnels
- Ahrental-Pfons exploratory tunnel
CURRENTLY ONGOING CONSTRUCTION WORK
Emergency tunnel
The emergency tunnel is being driven parallel to the existing Innsbruck railway bypass; it will be 9 km long and the excavation cross-section is 35 m². The drill-and-blast excavation work on this tunnel starts from three points at the same time: from Tulfes westwards (already completed), from the Ampass access tunnel eastwards and again westwards. The emergency tunnel will be completed in Summer of 2017.
Main tunnel tubes
The main tubes have been excavated by blasting according to the so-called New Austrian Tunnel Construction Method. The ceremonial first volley was set off on 19/03/2015 in the presence of EU Commissar Violeta Bulc and the Ministers of Transportation of the 7 Alpine countries (Austria, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, France, Liechtenstein and Slovenia. This stretch includes 3 km of main tunnels with an excavated cross-section of about 70 m2 .
Connecting tunnel between the BBT and the Innsbruck bypass
Construction has been under way since Summer of 2015 on the connecting tunnels between the Brenner Base Tunnel and the existing Innsbruck bypass. The connecting tunnels will also be excavated by blasting, with a cross-section of about 115 m2 .
Exploratory Tunnel
The construction lot includes the construction of the 15-km stretch of exploratory tunnel between the Ahrental junction point and the town of Pfons. The open gripper TBM with a length of 200 m has started on September 26th, 2015. Until spring 2015 the machine will excavate 15 km of the exploratory tunnel in south direction.
EXCAVATION DATA (September 25th, 2018)
| Emergency tunnel (completed) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 9,700 m | Length 9,700 m | Cross-section 35 m² |
| Main tunnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 7,363 m | Length 7,773 m | Cross-section 70 m² |
| Connecting tunnels (completed) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 7,000 m | Length 7,000 m | Cross-section 115 m² |
| Exploratory Tunnel Ahrental - Pfons | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 11,734 m | Length 15,000 m | Cross-section 49 m² |
| Safety and logistic tunnels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 2,036 m | Length 2,800 m | Cross-section 115 m² |
Wolf
GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE CONSTRUCTION LOT
This construction lot, worth 104 million Euro, was awarded to the Swietelsky/Swietelsky Tunnelbau bidding consortium in the fall of 2013. Excavation work on the Wolf access tunnel began on December 4th 2013.
The construction lot includes not only the work on the Wolf access tunnel and part of the exploratory tunnel, but also a series of logistics and safety works for the disposal site in the Padaster valley.
The construcion lot includes:
- The Wolf access tunnel
- The Wolf exploratory tunnel
- The Padaster brook re-routing tunnel
- The spoil removal tunnel
- The debris barrier in the Padaster valley
- The intake structure for the Padaster brook
- The inner lining of the Padaster tunnel
- The inner lining for the Saxen tunnel
Wolf access tunnel and exploratory tunnel
The 3.257 metre Wolf access tunnel, with an excavation cross-section of 120 m², was excavated by blasting from December 2013 to November 2015. It covers a 400-meter incline and ends in a junction chamber south of St. Jodok that has a cross-section of 280 m².
Subsequently, the base slab of the access tunnel was further re-worked with the installation of the concrete track bed.
The Wolf 2 construction lot also includes a 1.2 km stretch of the exploratory tunnel to be excavated towards Brenner (to the south), a junction chamber and connecting tunnels.
All the works in this construction lot, which were carried out in preparation for the main Pfons-Brenner construction lot starting in Fall of 2018, were completed in September of 2017.
| Exploratory tunnel Wolf (completed) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 1,200 m | Length 1,200 m | Cross section 49 m² |
| Access tunnel Wolf (completed) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 4,000 m | Length 4,000 m | Cross section 120 m² |
Mules 2-3
GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE CONSTRUCTION LOT
The construction lot “Periadriatic seam”, carried out between October 2011 and the summer of 2015, comprised the excavation of 3.7 km of the main tubes and 1.5 km of the exploratory tunnel. The crossing of the Periadriatic fault line, one of the biggest geological fault lines in the Alps, was accomplished without a hitch.
In May 2016 the biggest construction lot of the Brenner Base Tunnel project, known as “Mules 2-3”, with a contract volume of 993 mln euro, was awarded to the bidding consortium Astaldi S.p.A., Ghella S.p.A., Oberosler Cav Pietro S.r.l., Cogeis S.p.A. and PAC S.p.A. Works started in September 2016.
This lot reaches from the construction lot “Isarco river underpass” up to the border with Austria. In the course of a 7-year construction period, 39,8 km of the main tubes and 14.8 km of the exploratory tunnel will be excavated, including the emergency stop in Trens and its access tunnel as well as the bypasses which connect the main tubes every 333 m. A total of approximately 65 kilometers of tunnels will be excavated.
Once this construction lot is finished, all excavation activities in the Italian project area will be complete.
CURRENT CONSTRUCTION WORK
Access to emergency stop in Trens
The blasting work to connect the Mules access tunnel with the future emergency stop in Trens started in December 2016. The 3,8 km long tunnel with a cross-section of approximately 80 m2 will presumably be excavated by 2021.
Exploratory Tunnel
The drill and blast excavation works on the exploratory tunnel northwards resumed on 13.02.2017. After approximately 600 m, the rest of the stretch, all the way to the border, will be excavated with a tunnel boring machine (TBM). The driving operations are expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
Main tunnels
The drift of the main tubes northwards resumed on the 13th of march 2017. The first section of the stretch up to the future location of the Trens emergency stop, where new assembly chambers will be built, is going to be excavated by drill and blast in nearly two years. From here TBMs will drive the remaining section of the tunnels northwards up to the border of the construction lot, which should be reached during the first months of 2022.
The first blast of the southwards drift took place on the 3rd of april 2017. The southern end of the construction lot is expected to be reached in mid-2020.
EXCAVATION DATA (September 18th, 2018)
| Access tunnel to the emergency stop | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 1,802 m | Length 3,797 m | Cross-section 80 m² |
| Main tunnels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 5,269 m | Length 39,856 m | Cross-section 85 m² |
| Exploratory tunnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 2.261 m | Length 14,758 m | Cross-section 35 m² |
| Safety and logistics tunnels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 489 m | Length 6,930 m | Cross-section 26-56 m² |
Isarco river underpass
GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE CONSTRUCTION LOT
The southernmost construction lot of the Brenner Base Tunnel, worth 303 million Euro, was awarded to the RTI Salini-Impregilo S.p.A., Strabag AG, Strabag S.p.A., Consorzio Integra and Collini Lavori S.p.A. bidding consortium in October of 2014. This lot links the Brenner Base Tunnel with the existing Brenner line and the railway station in Fortezza. The work is scheduled to be completed in 2022.
Since in this section the tunnel tubes are just a few meters below the surface, a portion of the activities pertaining to this construction lot will be carried out building artificial tunnels. Furthermore, as loose fluvioglacial materials and the groundwater layer will be crossed, it will be necessary to adopt specific ground consolidation procedures including ground freezing and the so-called jet grouting.
CURRENT CONSTRUCTION WORK
As part of the preparatory work, by the end of 2016 the state road SS12 was re-routed and two bridges, an underpass under the Brenner railway line and a direct highway access were built. This means that both supply and removal transports can take place while avoiding traffic through the surrounding towns.
The current phase (main construction phase I) provides for the construction of four shafts, 20-25 metres deep, to access the rock faces of the Isarco River Underpass. Furthermore, it includes the excavation - already completed - of the access tunnel on the right side of the valley using drill and blast, and of part of the main tubes and the connecting tunnels, to be built with the drill and blast method.
As a preparatory measure for the relocation of the existing line which will be carried out during the following construction phase, slope stabilization and earthmoving measures will be implemented.
EXCAVATION DATA (September 18th, 2018)
| Main tunnels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 2,402 m | Length 4,478 m | Cross-section 60-150 m² |
| Connecting tunnels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 545 m | Length 1,186 m | Cross-section 60-80 m² |
| Connecting side tunnels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 96 m | Length 170 m | Cross-section 35-45 m² |
| Access tunnel (completed) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 192 m | Length 192 m | Cross-section 65 m² |
