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| Successful tunnel breakthrough at Erstfeld-Amsteg 16 June 2009, the tunnel boring machine Gabi I (TBM Ost) broke through the last metre of rock between Erstfeld and Amsteg. The machine covered a distance of 7.2 km in just 18 months, arriving at Amsteg half a year earlier than planned. At the construction site, Moritz Leuenberger, member of the Swiss Federal Council, congratulated Austrian construction firm Strabag on this outstanding achievement. With the construction of the NRLA, he said, Switzerland proves it belongs to Europe by building the longest railway tunnel in the world with Europeans for Europe. The NRLA is central to Switzerland's policy of shifting transport from road to rail, and Europe admires Switzerland for the uncompromising manner in which the country is expanding its railway infrastructure, Mr. Leuenberger said. Gabi I (TBM Ost) began driving towards Amsteg on 4 December 2007. Eighteen months later, and half a year earlier than planned, the TBM reached its destination at Amsteg. The tunnel breakthrough was achieved with great accuracy, with a minimal horizontal and vertical deviation of less than 1 cm. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Construction News :: home page |