At the construction site between Limanova and Klechany, TBM Kinga completed work on the tunnel, reaching the landing point on the west side of the facility.
The Limanov-Klechany section, being carried out by a Budimex and Gülermak consortium, includes the modernisation and electrification of more than 12.5km of railway line No. 104, the construction of two tunnels near Pisarzowa and a range of engineering works, including 10 viaducts and 12 bridges.
TBMs Kinga and Jadwiga are drilling 3.8km-long parallel tunnels. While TBM Kinga dug the evacuation tunnel, the larger-diameter TBM Jadwiga has been working on the main railway tunnel. The machine has made an average daily advance of 11m but also a record advance of 46.02m (23 rings).
TBM Jadwiga has 672m left to complete the drive.
Budimex president Artur Popko said the breakthrough of the escape tunnel marked completion of one of the project’s most difficult stages.
“For us, this project was of particular importance from the very beginning – not only because of the scale of technical challenges, but also because of its strategic role in the development of modern railway infrastructure in Poland,” he said.
Budimex’s operational director for railways, energy and industrial construction, Maciej Olek, highlighted the scale of the escape tunnel excavation.
“Kinga worked on this task for 359 days, of which 311 days were just training. During this time, we built 3,090 special rings forming the casing of the tunnel, and the average pace of work was about 11m per day, including downtime, and an average of 12m per day without technical breaks. Breaking through the wall of the exit portal itself was one of the most difficult moments of the whole process, as it required a very precise preparation of the car landing site and then control of the head position to ensure safe passage through the final wall of the portal in a previously planned location,” he said.
