The TBM “Flavia” is a 200 meter long and 2,750 ton heavy machine that drills through the mountains with a propulsion power of 4,200 kW. The TBM has currently excavated around 13.3 km of the 14.3 km long main west tunnel.
Flavia doesn’t just drill through the mountain. Like her twin sister Virginia, who completed her journey through the main east tube on March 28, 2023, Flavia also fulfills another important task: During the course of the advance, she also installs the inner shell of the BBT. This consists of precast concrete parts, so-called segments, which ensure the stability and safety of the one-way infrastructure.
Next stop – Brenner: last kilometer of tunneling in the western tube
The segments installed by TBM Flavia come from the Hinterrigger factory. The production of the precast concrete parts for the Brenner Base Tunnel was completed in the factory on September 19, 2024. In the last seven years, more than 218,000 precast concrete elements have been manufactured here. Around 30 percent of the excavated material from the Maul construction site could be reused for concrete production.
“The TBM Flavia only has 1000 meters left to escape. Once the excavation work has been completed, there will also be a continuous connection in the main west tunnel between the south portal in Franzensfeste and the state border at the Brenner Pass,” explains Alessandro Marottoli, process manager for the Mauls 2-3 construction lot.
In addition to Flavia in Italy, four other tunnel boring machines are currently in use in the Austrian project area for the Brenner Base Tunnel project: Ida and Lilia (construction lot H41 Sillschlucht-Pfons) and Wilma and Olga (construction lot H53 Pfons-Brenner).
Project progress
The Brenner Base Tunnel is a tunnel system that extends over a total length of over 220 kilometers: To date, 183 kilometers of tunnels have been excavated, of which 82 km are the main tunnel, 56 km of exploratory tunnels and 45 km of other tunnel structures.
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