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 work began in September 2014 and was completed in July of 2019. About 41.5 km of tunnel were excavated.
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 was being driven parallel to the existing Innsbruck railway bypass. It is 9.7 km long and the excavation cross-section is 35 m². The drill-and-blast excavation work on this tunnel started from three points at the same time: from Tulfes westwards, from the Ampass access tunnel eastwards and again westwards. The emergency tunnel was 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 about 6 km of main tunnels with an excavated cross-section of about 70 m2 .
Connecting tunnel between the BBT and the Innsbruck bypass
The connecting tunnels were also excavated by blasting, with a cross-section of about 115 m2. Excavation work was completed in Spring of 2017. Currently, work is underway on the inner lining of the tunnel.
Exploratory Tunnel
The construction lot includes the construction of the 16.5-km stretch of exploratory tunnel between the Ahrental junction point and the town of Steinach. The open gripper TBM with a length of 200 m has started on September 26th, 2015 and continous working towards south.
EXCAVATION DATA January 21st, 2020
| Emergency tunnel (completed) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 9,700 m | Length 9,700 m | Cross-section 35 m² |
| Main tunnel (completed) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 5,960 m | Length 5,960 m | Cross-section 70 m² |
| Connecting tunnels (completed) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 6,840 m | Length 6,840 m | Cross-section 115 m² |
| Exploratory Tunnel Ahrental - Steinach | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 15,400 m | Length 16,627 m | Cross-section 49 m² |
| Safety and logistic tunnels (completed) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 3,850 m | Length 3,850 m | Cross-section 115 m² |
Pfons-Brenner
GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE CONSTRUCTION LOT
The “Pfons-Brenner” construction lot H51 is the biggest and at the same time the southernmost stretch of the Brenner Base Tunnel in the Austrian project area. Around 52 kilometres of tunnels will be excavated as part of this construction lot. The project area extends from the township of Pfons to the border at the Brenner Pass.
The construction lot includes the construction of 37 kilometres of main tunnel tubes, around 9 kilometres of exploratory tunnels and the emergency stop at St. Jodok am Brenner.
The work on this construction lot began in late autumn of 2018. Construction is expected to last 74 months. The contract amount is about 966 million Euro. The joint venture comprising the Austrian construction groups PORR Bau GmbH and G. Hinteregger & Söhne Baugesellschaft m.b.H., the Italian construction groups Società Italiana per Condotte d’Acqua S.p.A. and Itinera S.p.A. is responsible for the tunnel section.
The construction lot includes:
- Stretches of the main tunnels
- Cross passages between the two main tunnels
- Stretches of the exploratory tunnel
- The St. Jodok emergency stop
Current construction work
Main tunnels
In this construction lot, 37 km of main tubes will be excavated. Several tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will excavate the main tunnel tubes.
Assembly of the machine will take place in large chambers. The TBMs are moved forward in the start tunnels after assembly and start driving from there. The other stretches will be built by blasting.
St. Jodok am Brenner emergency stop
European safety standards provide for emergency stops at a maximum distance of 20 kilometres for tunnel structures, such as the Brenner Base tunnel. A total of three emergency stops are planned in the BBT.
In the area of the St. Jodok emergency stop, the two main tunnel tubes will be driven with a slightly larger cross-section in order to offer better chances of rescue. A middle tunnel runs parallel between the two main tunnel tubes in the area of the emergency stop. This middle tunnel can be reached from both main tunnels via cross-connections and fire doors. In order to improve the chances of rescue for passengers in the area of the emergency stop, the standard distance between the cross-connections will be reduced from 333 metres to 90 metres.
Data for the St. Jodok emergency stop:
- Main tunnels emergency area: 590 metres
- 1 central tunnel, length: 900 metres
- 1 pressure relief tunnel
- 6 exhaust extraction cross-tunnel
- 6 connecting tunnels
- 1 turning niche
Wolf Exploratory tunnel
The exploratory tunnel lies between the two main tunnels and about 12 m below them. Approximately 1.2 km of exploration tunnels had already been excavated as part of the preliminary lot “Wolf 2”. The further 9 kilometres of exploratory tunnel will be excavated by blasting.
Excavation data (January 20th, 2020)
| Main tunnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 1,481 m | Length 37,000 m | Cross-section 85 m² |
| Exploratory tunnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 2,479 m | Length 8,800 m | Cross section 61 m² |
| Safety and logistics tunnels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 1,783 m | Length 6,200 m | Cross-section 20-350 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 2022.
Exploratory Tunnel
The drill and blast excavation works on the exploratory tunnel northwards resumed on 13.02.2017. After approximately 600 m drill and blast excavation, the rest of the stretch, all the way to the border, is being 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 excavation for the first 0.8 km was carried out by drill and blast, followed by two tunnel boring machines heading north in spring 2019. The TBM in the west tunnel will probably reach the state border at the end of 2021, the TBM in the east tunnel will arrive at the Brenner slightly later, at the beginning 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 (January 27th, 2020)
| Access tunnel to the emergency stop | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 3,397 m | Length 3,797 m | Cross-section 80 m² |
| Main tunnels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 15,844 m | Length 39,856 m | Cross-section 85 m² |
| Exploratory tunnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 7,917 m | Length 14,757 m | Cross-section 35 m² |
| Safety and logistics tunnels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 1,161 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 324 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) provided 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 (January 27th, 2020)
| Main tunnels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 3,218 m | Length 4,478 m | Cross-section 60-150 m² |
| Connecting tunnels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 734 m | Length 1,186 m | Cross-section 60-80 m² |
| Connecting side tunnels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 128 m | Length 170 m | Cross-section 35-45 m² |
| Access tunnel (completed) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Excavation 164 m | Length 164 m | Cross-section 65 m² |
