Construction is scheduled to start this month on Line 1 of the Seville metro, Spain, following the signing of the contract in May by the client, Junta de Andalicia (the provincial government), and the concessionaire – comprising domestic contractors, Dragados Concesiones (leader), Sacyr, GEA-21, Salvador Rus López Construcciones, CAF, and Tuzsa.
The alignment of the 19km long double track line, will run from west to east, cutting across the south of the city.
Between Blas Infante station in the west and Cocheras station in the east, the line runs underground, some of which will be through tunnels built during the 1980s, before the original heavy metro project was halted. Nine kilometres in total will be below ground, about 5km of which will be new, including two shorter drives totalling 1.3km at the west of the line. Four kilometres will be at grade, and 6km will be on viaduct.
EPB TBMs (the number of which has still to be decided) will be used to bore through the sand, gravels and boulders with a high water content. Jet grouting and compensation grouting will be used during construction, with particular attention under buildings. The manufacturer for the TBMs has yet to be finalised. The tunnels will have an i.d. of 5.3m, and the segments will be 250mm thick.
The total contract cost for the construction of Line 1 is US$447M, with the rolling stock adding an additional US$53M. Junta de Andalicia will provide one-third of the total cost, with the concessionaire investing the lion’s share. Construction is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2006, and Dragados Concesiones et al will operate the line for 35 years.
