Construction work have begun in mid-January 2022 on the Sill Gorge – Pfons tunnel connection, the longest section of the Brenner Base Tunnel project in Austria.
The EUR 651 million contract for the construction of the section was awarded in November 2021 to a consortium H41 Sill Gorge – Pfons comprising the companies Implenia Österreich, Implenia Schweiz, Webuild, CSC Costruzioni, the Swiss subsidiary of Webuild. The Implenia – CSC Costruzioni is a 50/50 consortium.
Webuild is involved on three lots of Brenner Base Tunnel worth EUR 2 billion. The company is already working on the construction of other lots of this project such as the Isarco River Underpass (82% completed) and Mules 2-3 (65% completed) after having completed Lot Tulfes-Pfons (completed). Webuild is also working on the railway between Fortezza and Ponte Gardena south of the tunnel.
The section extends from the Sill Gorge through the Ahrental valley up to Pfons am Brenner, overall, 14.3 km. Construction works will be completed in 80 months, by the summer of 2028.
In order to ensure the fastest progress possible in the whole project, the Sill Gorge – Pfons (H41) lot was extended southwards by 3 km of main tunnel tubes, where it will connect with the future construction lot H53 Pfons-Brenner.
The construction of the Sill Gorge – Pfons tunnel concerns prolongation of the railway from Gola del Sill near the city of Innsbruck to the town of Pfons located further south. In total, 24.8 km of tunnel will be excavated including 22.5 km of main tunnel tubes and 38 cross passages with a total length of 2.3 km.
The traditional method will be used to excavate tunnels for approximately 8.3 km, including auxiliary tunnels while the mechanised method will be used for another 16.5 km.
The access to the new underground construction site will be granted through the Ahrental access tunnel, which has already been completed in the E41 Ahrental prospection lot.
The new H41 construction site represents the continuation of the works in the H33 Tulfes-Pfons lot, which were smoothly and successfully completed at the beginning of May 2021. Under the H33 lot, 42 km of tunnel system was excavated including a 15 km section of the exploratory tunnel.
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