EUROPE: A celebratory event marked the breakthrough of the exploratory tube of the Brenner Base Tunnel at 14.53 on September 18.
Once complete in 2032, the 65 km Brenner Base Tunnel linking Italy and Austria will be the longest railway tunnel in the world.
It will comprise two 8·1 m diameter main bores running 40 to 70 m apart. The 5 m diameter exploratory tunnel is being bored about 12 m below the main tunnels to reduce construction costs and times by providing information on the rock structure.
Once the tunnel is completed, the exploratory tunnel will be used for technical equipment, maintenance and drainage.
The total length of all the tunnels in the BBT project will be 230 km, of which around 200 km has now been excavated.
The summit of the route will be 790 m above sea level, and 580 m below the Brenner Pass. The maximum overburden will be 1 720 m.
The contractors involved include Webuild, Implenia, Strabag and the Integra Consortium. The €10·5bn cost is being funded equally by Italy and Austria, with the European Union covering half of the total.
‘Historic moment’ for Europe
During the breakthrough celebrations Italian Prime Minster Giorgia Meloni said ‘this tunnel will revolutionise transport between Italy and Austria. It will allow drastically reduced travel times between Fortezza and Innsbruck: from the current 80 min to just 25 min for passenger trains, and from 105 min to 35 min for freight trains. This will also reduce congestion on a key European artery, the A22 Brenner motorway, strengthen the competitiveness of our manufacturing base, and produce significant environmental benefits, particularly for the beautiful yet delicate regions in which we live.’
Meloni said ‘along the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor, two other very large infrastructure projects are progressing; one in the south, the bridge over the Strait of Messina; one in the north, the Fehmarn Belt tunnel in the Baltic Sea between Germany and Denmark.’
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said the breakthrough was an ‘historic moment for Austria and Italy, but also for the European community as a whole’, and a symbol of what is possible ‘when neighbours work together, states join forces and Europe demonstrates that it is more than a single market, but rather a community that shapes the future’.
Meanwhile, ÖBB-Infrastruktur CEO Judith Engel took to social media to highlight the culinary benefits, saying the tunnel would link ‘kaiserschmarrn to espresso’.
