Issue 02/2023

After 4 years, the first tunnel boring machine (TBM) of a main tunnel in the Brenner Base Tunnel successfully completed driving on 30 March 2023. TBM Virginia covered around 14 km on its journey, installing over 56 800 segments in the eastern main tunnel.

The project K2D Skøyen–Vækerø in Oslo is part of Fornebubanen – the largest subway tunnelling project in Norway since the 1970s. It will consist of the Skøyen subway station, as well as around 1.2 km of tunnelling below a heavily urbanised area and an escape tunnel (Bestum). In March 2023, Implenia was awarded the contract for construction, and will start its work on K2D Skøyen–Vækerø later this year.

A joint venture (JV) consisting of Implenia (50%) and Demathieu Bard Construction (50%) has been awarded the contract for Lot 3 of future Line C of the Toulouse Metro by Tisséo, the public transport authority for Greater Toulouse.

Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) began driving the tunnel for the Große Wendlinger Kurve on March 30, 2023. The existing Stuttgart–Tübingen rail line will be connected to the infrastructure being built as part of Stuttgart 21 via the Kleine and Große Wendlinger Kurve (large and small Wendlinger curve).

With around 840 000 passengers per day, the Munich S-Bahn is one of the largest public transport systems in Germany. Originally opened in 1972 for the Olympic Games, the 11.3 km long main line has reached its capacity limit, as all S-Bahn trains have to pass under the Munich city centre through a tunnel. A solution is now being provided by the construction of the approximately 10 km long 2nd main line. It is intended to relieve the existing line, serve as a fallback option in case of disruptions and, above all, significantly shorten the travel time from west to east by introducing a new express S-Bahn system.

The tunnel boring technique poses significant demands on the stability of the tunnel tube, which depends on various factors including the time-dependent strength and stiffness development of the annular gap filling material. To conduct a finite element analysis of the material behavior, reliable material parameters such as modulus of elasticity or stiffness modulus are often lacking, requiring assumptions to be made. These assumptions are typically based on the relationships between material parameters in concrete technology, which can be inaccurate for annular gap filling materials as their consolidation and hardening behavior differs from that of standard concretes. Hence, it is crucial to model the time-dependent behavior of the annular gap filling material in a nuanced manner to maintain the stability of the tunnel tube. To optimize the effective and durable use of two-component mortars, determining relevant material properties in the laboratory at an early stage is vital. This study presents the determination of soil mechanical parameters “cohesion and constrained modulus” as supplementary material parameters for two-component mortars.

For roughly 1.5 billion euros, the electric utility company National Grid is building the "London Power Tunnels 2" project – a 32.5 km long power tunnel that crosses two rivers and 15 railway lines. Together with project partner Mott MacDonald, National Grid was looking for software that could effectively accomplish the change to a digital planning process. The software needed to enable all project participants from different areas to work together seamlessly.

From 12 to 18 May 2023 the Greek Tunnelling Society, organizes the World Tunnel Congress (WTC 2023) in the city of Athens. The WTC is the premier annual event of the International Tunneling and...

When the STUVA Conference ‘23 opens its doors in Munich on November 8 this year, there will definitely be excitement once again. Because in the STUVA “Young Forum” competition, up to five young...