Two Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) successfully complete their section of the tunnelling on Doha Metro’s Green Line.
The Doha Metro’s Green Line had six TBMs working on tunnels over 33 km in length. Starting tunnelling work in September last year, the Al Rayyan and Al Gharrafa TBMs have successfully completed their sections and have been decommissioned. They will now be dismantled and taken back to TBM supplier, Germany’s Herrenknecht local office in Doha where their parts will either be recycled or sold off. The remaining four TBMs are expected to complete the work on the Green Line in early April this year. Leatooriya will be the next TBM to complete its mission in the last week of February 2016 when it achieves its breakthrough at the Education City Station, followed shortly by the remaining TBMs.
“This double milestone for the project’s overall progress shows how we are continuing to make good progress against our challenging objectives. To date 30 km out of 33 km has been tunnelled on the Green Line, a remarkable feat considering we began tunnelling less than eighteen months ago,” Qatar Rail project director Jassim Al Ansari said.
The high-tech TBMs were two of 21 used in the first phase of the Doha Metro project which saw Qatar recognised by Guinness World Records for having the largest number of tunnel boring machines operating simultaneously in a single project.
The first phase of the Doha Metro project is expected to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2019, while completion of the Lusail Tram is set for 2020.
By 2030, all the three networks – Doha Metro, Lusail Tram and the long-distance rail, which will link Qatar with the GCC Rail network – are expected to be complete.
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