High-Tech Premiere for TGV Tunnel
Oct 16, 2012
Tunneling and gallery techniques » Jacking by machine » Tunnel boring machine
Two months earlier than planned, tunnel boring machine Charlotte reached the west side of the Vosges Mountains, concluding excavation for the first tube of the »Tunnel de Saverne«. A newly developed high-tech machine from Herrenknecht is being used, which can be converted inside the tunnel and adjusted for different soil conditions. The twin-tube rail tunnel is part of the section on the TGV Paris-Strasbourg line currently being expanded for train speeds of up to 320 kilometers per hour.
The Schwanau engineers adapted the Herrenknecht tunnel boring machine known as "Charlotte" (open mode convertible EPB Shield S-670, Ø 10,010 mm) to the geological conditions in the project in such a way that it could handle excavation in two different soil types. For the first 200 meters of the northern tunnel it worked through unconsolidated rock (a mixture of sandstone and shell limestone) in the closed EPB (Earth Pressure Balance Shield) mode. In accordance with the prevailing hard rock (red sandstone) that followed, the rest of the advance was continued in open mode. For switching between modes all that is needed are some adjustments at the cutting wheel. The conveyor belt and the screw conveyor remain installed on the machine in both modes. The Saverne project is the first time a Herrenknecht TBM with a convertible EPB shield has been used that can also handle the open hard rock mode with belt conveyor discharge. "The Tunnel de Saverne is a special challenge," says Herrenknecht project manager Stephan Hanusek, and continues: "The conversion went without a hitch, so the machine was ready again in a few days." Since the breakthrough of the first tunnel, the machine is being disassembled and the individual components transported back to the launch platform at Ernolsheim lès Saverne. "Charlotte" is scheduled to begin excavation of the southern tube in October.
Tunnel de Saverne, France | |||
Machine data S-670 | Project data | ||
Machine type: | Convertible EPB Shield | Project owner: | RFF (Réseau Ferré de France) |
Diameter: | 10,010 mm | Customer: | Spie Batignolles TPCI Dodin Campenon Bernard |
Cutting wheel power: | 3,600 kW | Tunnel length: | 2 x 3,846 m |
Rated torque: | 23,707 kNm | Geology: | Red sandstone, sandstone, shell limestone |
Weight: | 2,400 t | ||
Length: | 105 m |
TBM mode (closed/open) |
Closed EPB (earth pressure balance shield) mode: In this mode, secure support of the tunnel face is effected with the material excavated by the cutting wheel. The volume of the material transported away by a screw conveyor behind the cutting wheel is precisely regulated by the conveying speed of the screw. |
Open mode: The more stable tunnel face here only needs to be supported by the cutting wheel. The excavated material is transported away via a conveyor belt. |
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Contact
Herrenknecht AG
Achim Kühn
Schlehenweg 2
77963 Schwanau
Germany
Phone:
+49 (0) 7824 / 302-5400
Fax:
+49 (0) 7824 / 302-4730