Maailma suurim läbinduskilp on 19,25 m Herrenknecht

None Bigger: contract signing for Orlovski Tunnel TBM - Herrenknecht AG:

None Bigger

Tunnel boring machine for Orlovski tunnel brings new world record

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________________ For many years now, diameters in mechanized tunnelling have been gradually expanding, with Herrenknecht regularly setting and breaking world records. In early July 2011, the Russian operator company NCC (Nevskaya Concession Company) placed an order with Herrenknecht – the TBM manufacturer, based in Schwanau, Germany – for the construction of a Mixshield. The tunnel boring machine (TBM) for the Orlovski Tunnel will surpass all previous TBMs. With a diameter of 19.25 m, the tunnelling shield, designed to link both halves of the center of St. Petersburg under the River Neva, sets a new world record.

St. Petersburg, Russia / Schwanau, Germany, 17 August 2011. On the occasion of the contract signing for the world’s largest tunnel boring machine, entrepreneur Martin Herrenknecht recently met the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, in St. Petersburg. In a high-level business meeting, Mr. Putin wanted to find out at firsthand about the gigantic automobile tunnel project – an extremely challenging construction project under the River Neva, which will be carried out using the world’s biggest tunnel boring machine. The contract for the manufacture of a 19.25 m diameter Mixshield, which smashes all previous diameter records, had previously been signed by the Russian operator company, NCC (Nevskaya Concession Company) and Herrenknecht AG. For Herrenknecht, this is the biggest single order in the company’s history and represents a huge technical challenge, which has been well prepared by extremely thorough, intensive preparatory engineering collaboration between the customer and the contractor.

Until today, vehicles have had to use the various bridges in order to cross the River Neva from the city center to the northern districts and the orbital freeway. Valentina Matviyenko, Governor of St. Petersburg, explained why this tunnel was so urgently required: The city needed a Neva crossing for motor vehicles round the clock, especially during the shipping season. In addition to linking the banks of the Neva with one another, the Orlovski Tunnel would make a contribution to the economic development of Russia. Allowing longer bridge opening times would allow the intensity of shipping on the Volga/Baltic waterway and the River Neva to increase. The mega-tunnel, with two three-lane carriageway levels, would considerably improve the traffic capacity.

The Orlovski Tunnel project is a pioneering German-Russian project, setting new engineering and constructional standards in large diameter tunnelling.

Herrenknecht world record TBMs

• 1995 Adler Tunnel, Switzerland; Single Shield TBM; 12,535 mm
• 1997 Elbe Tunnel, Germany; Mixshield; 14,200 mm
• 2001 Lefortovo Tunnel, Russia; Mixshield; 14,200 mm
• 2004 Silver Forest Tunnel, Russia; Mixshield; 14,200 mm
• 2005 M30, Spain; EPB Shield; 15,200 mm
• 2006 Shanghai Changjiang Under River Tunnel, China; 2 x Mixshield; 15,430 mm
• 2010 Sparvo, Italy; EPB Shield; 15,550 mm
• 2011 Orlovski Tunnel, Russia; Mixshield; 19,250 mm