Tag: ASTRA

  • Second tube of the Gotthard tunnel: first tunnel boring machine “Carla” at its destination

    Second tube of the Gotthard tunnel: first tunnel boring machine “Carla” at its destination

    Sometimes Carla, with her followers more than 200 m long, came slowly, sometimes much faster than planned, depending on the nature of the rock. On average, Carla covered about 17 m per day. Her record performance is 45.4 m per day, achieved in rather soft gneiss.

    TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION IS TEAMWORK
    “It’s great that we were able to excavate the northern access tunnel on time and, above all, without any significant accidents,” says Jacopo Cheda, head of northern construction at FEDRO. Xavier von Mandach, Implenia’s site manager in charge, emphasises the good cooperation: “Tunnel construction is always teamwork. Our team, consisting of several companies and colleagues from many nations, has a great deal of experience and works in a highly professional manner. Together we were able to successfully master the technical challenges and reach this important milestone without incident. The team did a great job.”

    WHAT’S NEXT
    The excavation of the access tunnel, which runs parallel to the future second tunnel tube, also provided important findings for the other construction work that will be carried out in the future, which are important for Carla’s “big sister”, which will excavate the northern section of the main tube from 2025.

    In August 2022, FEDRO awarded the “secondo tubo” consortium with Implenia (60%) and Frutiger (40%) the contract for the northern main lot (Lot 241) of the second tube of the Gotthard road tunnel. The construction period for the 7.9 km long tunnel section up to the lot boundary in the middle of the tunnel is scheduled until 2029.

    The construction of the second tube will be driven simultaneously from the north and from the south. A total of four TBMs will be used for this: two smaller ones (Carla and Delia) for the two access tunnels and the two large ones with a shield diameter of over twelve metres for the main tunnel.

    Source: implenia.com

  • Implenia and Frutiger are building the second tube of the Gotthard tunnel

    Implenia and Frutiger are building the second tube of the Gotthard tunnel

    The core of the work is the 7.3 km long drive with a diameter of 12.3 m through a tunnel boring machine (TBM) with segmental lining. This connects to a 160 m long, conventionally excavated take-off run. Further work of the order is the 430 m long, conventional drive through the fault zone north, from the 4 km long north access tunnel currently under construction

    is broken out. The TBM will later be pulled through this section of the fault zone and its cutter head will be completely overhauled. The TBM will then tackle further tunneling to the lot boundary. The ARGE will also create a highly complex excavation of two underground ventilation centers as well as an underground concrete plant and production halls for tubbings and service ducts in former military caverns.

    FEDRO justifies the award as follows: «The ARGE 'secondo tubo' has submitted a very good offer in terms of quality and price, and therefore the most advantageous offer overall. The tender from the successful tenderer is consistently convincing with award criteria that are judged to be good to very good. The bidder has submitted the most advantageous offer and can also qualitatively stand out from the other bidders on the basis of the submitted offer documents. The key people assigned to work on the construction site are rated as very good.»

    André Wyss, CEO of Implenia, on the contract he had won: “The second tube of the Gotthard road tunnel is making a significant contribution to improving the north-south road connection in Switzerland. We are very pleased that this large and complex infrastructure project, which fits in well with Implenia's strategy

    fits, are allowed to plan and build. We can optimally use our many years of experience and proven expertise in tunnel construction and in other disciplines of civil engineering.»

    In addition to the tunnel construction, Implenia will also be involved in special civil engineering and civil engineering units in Central Switzerland.

  • Federal Roads Office uses mobile bridge

    Federal Roads Office uses mobile bridge

    The Federal Roads Office ( FEDRO ) has launched the FEDRO Bridge pilot project. According to a press release , this is a mobile bridge for use in maintenance work on motorways. The traffic is slowed down at 60 kilometers per hour over the almost 240 meter long bridge. Underneath there is a space of around 100 meters where work can be carried out undisturbed by road traffic. When the construction phase is finished, the mobile bridge is pushed a hundred meters further and the work continues.

    This eliminates the barriers and shutdowns of sections of the roadway that are otherwise necessary for occupational safety. You can also work unhindered during the day. With today's traffic volume on many sections of the motorway, it has not been possible to reduce lanes for maintenance work during the day for a long time, according to the statement from the Federal Office. Accordingly, more and more construction work on the national highways has to be carried out at night. ASTRA believes that lane reduction without traffic jams on the main axes such as A1 and A2 is only possible after 11 p.m. Because of the lower noise limits, some work such as noisy demolition is not possible at night.

    The Federal Office therefore decided to develop and build the ASTRA Bridge. In the fact sheet for the mobile bridge, the length is specified as exactly 236 meters, the width as 7.30 meters and the height as 4.32 meters. Underneath, it is possible to work on a hundred meters at a width of 5.2 meters and a height of 3.10 meters.

    The ASTRA Bridge is equipped with a landing gear. Raised hydraulically by 10 centimeters, it can travel lengthways and crossways. Once the work under the bridge has been completed, it will continue to drive 100 meters by remote control for the next construction phase, according to the fact sheet. To assemble the bridge before use, 18 low-loaders are required for transport and four cranes are required for assembly.

    According to the Federal Office, the individual elements for the ASTRA Bridge are currently being built and then transported to the bridge's storage area in Rothrist TG. The bridge is to be assembled and tested for the first time in late autumn. If these tests are satisfactory, the ASTRA Bridge will be used in spring 2022 as a pilot project for paving renovations on the A1 section between Recherswil SO and Kriegstetten SO. According to the press release, the ASTRA Bridge prototype will cost around CHF 20 million. After completion of a construction project and a maintenance phase, it can be used again for the next construction project.

  • Basel area wants to test Velohochbahn

    Basel area wants to test Velohochbahn

    The canton of Basel-Landschaft wants to expand its infrastructure for bicycles. Together with the Federal Roads Office ( FEDRO ), he is now starting the project of a bicycle high-rise, he writes in a message . The Veloweg is built as a separate building next to existing roads. The system is made of wood in a modular construction. It will also be equipped with photovoltaic modules.

    For this purpose, FEDRO has commissioned a study for the routing in the Basel area. With this project, it wants to examine how a higher-level cycle network along existing motorways can be integrated into the cantonal cycle route networks.

    The Basel government council wants to submit a corresponding proposal to the district administrator in the fourth quarter. If the cantonal parliament approves, the bicycle high-rise should be built between mid-2021 and mid-2022. It is to be put into operation before the opening of the Federal Wrestling and Alpine Festival in Pratteln in 2022 .

  • New building for ASTRA and BFE is ready for occupancy

    New building for ASTRA and BFE is ready for occupancy

    Around 600 employees from ASTRA and BFE will be able to move into the new seven-story building in Ittigen this month. The federal administrative center on the DETEC campus has housed various offices of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication (DETEC) since 2006. The new building takes into account the space requirements that have increased since then and brings together previously scattered departments.

    According to a press release , the wood-concrete hybrid construction by the Zurich architects Berrel Berrel Kräutler , which is certified according to the Swiss Sustainable Building Standards (SNBS), relies on the potential available on site. For example, the waste heat from a nearby data center is used to heat the building, and spring water is used for cooling. The project, originally named “Fitzcarraldo” by the architects, uses 100 percent renewable energies and does not cause any CO2 emissions.

    In this modern administration building on the DETEC campus, we can bring together departments that were previously located in two locations in Bern, ”says ASTRA Director Jürg Röthlisberger. "That will simplify the collaboration, improve the team spirit and it can accelerate processes."

    The municipality of Ittigen wants to do everything possible in the future so that the federal government feels at home there, emphasizes municipality president Marco Rupp. In Ittigen they are proud to be able to host most of the DETEC offices.