Contractors have begun excavating a series of new tunnels as part of the €8.6 billion Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT) project.
A Strabag/Salini-Impregilo joint venture have held a groundbreaking ceremony to launch the four-and-a-half-year tunnelling project.
The €380 million contract will create 38 kilometres of new railway tunnels through the Brenner Pass.
A combination of blasting, drilling and tunnel boring machine (TBM) will be used to construct a 9-kilometre rescue tunnel to Tulfes, two connecting tunnels totalling nine kilometres and a 15-kilometre exploratory tunnel from Ahrental towards Steinach am Brenner.
The BBT is at the centre of the 2,200 kilometre Berlin – Palermo railway and once open, will cut the overall journey time by two-and-a-half hours.
