[8/21/2007 ]
Citytunneln’s first TBM breakthrough
On Tuesday, tunnel boring machine Anna broke through the shaft wall of the southern section of the future station at Triangeln. This is the first stop on her underground journey from Holma to Malmö C.
“I’m very pleased we have come this far and that we are on schedule,” says Örjan Larsson, Citytunneln’s project manager.
The almost 2.7 kilometre journey has taken nine months to accomplish. The machine has worked six days a week since 20 November last year. This means an average speed of just over twelve metres a day. But this is a figure that does not reflect the whole truth. During the initial months the tunnel boring machine was run at a leisurely tempo while the machine and manpower were brought up to speed. A number of extended service stops were also made when parts such as the machines scrapers and cutting discs were replaced. During the summer, tunnel boring machine Anna progressed at a significantly faster pace. 83 rings were put in place last week and this amounts to almost 150 metres. Some days she progressed more than 30 metres.
Timetable
Now that we are almost half way through the construction phase the Citytunnel project is on schedule.
“The timetable is important. If we keep to this then we are also within budget for the project. But there is still a lot to do and we have to remain humble when involved in such massive projects. What remains for the tunnel boring machines, for example, is boring the final kilometres to reach Malmö C. This is the most complicated part,” says Örjan Larsson.
Anna’s sister machine, Katrin, is presently about 600 metres from Triangeln. She is expected to arrive in about two months. The tunnel boring machines will be checked over at Triangeln and later in the autumn they will start boring again. By summer 2008, tunnel boring machine Anna is expected to arrive at Malmö C and Katrin a couple of months later.
The Citytunnel project in Malmö consists of 17 km of railway connecting Malmö Central Station with the Öresund Bridge, as well as linking up the Scania railway network and increasing rail traffic capacity for the future. Six km passes underneath central Malmö, and the other 11 km is surface railway.
Malmö Central Station is being extended with an underground section. New stations are being built at Triangeln and Hyllie, south of Malmö.
The first spit was dug on 8 March 2005. The Citytunnel is planned to be complete in 2011. The budget for the project is SEK 9.45 billion at 2001 values.