The start of shaft construction scheduled for next month will mark contract mobilisation on Antwerp’s $62.5M high speed rail link tunnels.
Contractor JV ASDAM, a consortium of CFE/Van Laere/De Nul/CEI/Wayss and Freytag/SMET/ Dumez was awarded the design and build contract in May this year by client, NMBS (Belgium Railways).
The tunnels will have a 1.2km long twin bore, single track configuration with an i.d. of 7.3m. ASDAM will bore the tunnels using a Herrenknecht 8.3m diameter slurry shield TBM with sacrificial skin that will erect a concrete lining of eight 1.5m wide segments including a small keystone. The machine is expected on site in July of next year and is scheduled to begin the first bore from the 16m deep start shaft in October 2002. Once the machine has completed the first bore it will be transported back through the finished tunnel and reassembled at the start shaft ready to bore the second tube.
The machine will tunnel through Tertiary sand containing glauconite clay. As the tunnels run under sensitive architectural areas of the city compensation grouting is anticipated.
The tunnel construction is scheduled for completion in January 2004. When operational it will form a vital last section on the Paris to Amsterdam High Speed Rail Link. The project is being financed by the Belgium Federal State and the European Union.
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