The last segment has come off the production line for the H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons section of the Brenner Base Tunnel.
Since opening in February 2023, the factory in Ahrental, Austria has produced just over 59,000 segments, meaning a daily production rate of approximately 90 prefabricated shotcrete pieces.
The Ahrental construction site had no rail line for material supply so the ARGE H41 chose to produce the rings on site. Production was organised on a line with divided into phases: moulding, reinforcement, shotcrete and curing.
An internal transport system provided continuity, optimising timing and costing and quality standards.
After storage, the segments were carried into the heart of the mountain to the TBM, 1km below ground, using a specially developed vehicle and then a special train.
BBT SE says if the segments had been produced elsewhere, around 29,500 lorry journeys would have been needed to transport them to the construction site. Only 3,000 trips took place to supply construction materials and the reinforcement steel.
“Thanks to this on-site production, tens of thousands of lorry trips were avoided,” said Romed Insam, project manager for Lot H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons.
“This meant not only far less disturbance for the surrounding communities, but also shows that modern infrastructure projects can be carried out efficiently and yet respect the environment.”
Marco Reith, project manager for Implenia, ARGE H41, was pleased with the achievements.
“Thanks to Implenia’s experience and the close co-operation with BBT SE, we were able to produce extremely high-quality prefab shotcrete elements and do it in a sustainable manner. This was to the benefit of local companies as well, since they were our suppliers. Once production ends, part of the plant will be used to produce steel reinforcements,” he said.
On the H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons lot, TBMs Ida and Lilia are advancing south towards the neighbouring H53 Pfons-Brenner lot.
The TBMs were launched in summer 2023 and will excavate just under 17k. Currently, Ida is about 400m the destination in the town of Navis, and Lilia has 800m to complete.
