Concrete bed for “claudia”
The Lovat 242-SE tunnel-boring complex with the name “Claudia” built the right-hand tunnel from the dead ends behind the Seligerskaya station to the “800th Anniversary of Moscow Street” on the extension of the Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya metro line. In 50 days, the shield covered 290.4 meters.
Deputy General Director of Mosmetrostroy JSC Oleg Melnikov (on the right in the photo) and Chief Engineer of TO-6 Metrostroy LLC Viktor Samara
There were no particular difficulties for the TO-6 brigades in less than two months. The geology of the Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya line section was studied in advance. In the first 126 meters the TBM encountered predominantly karst rocks.
“We have already drawn conclusions on the previously passed left distillation tunnel,” said the head of section No. 2 of TO-6 Evgeniy Bachurin. “We understood how best to drive the car, so we managed it quite quickly in the right tunnel. We were counting on one speed, but it turned out even faster.
On average, Claudia traveled up to ten meters a day at a depth of 19 meters; specialists installed eight rings in 24 hours.
“The legendary shield felt mostly fine,” continued Evgeniy Bachurin. – There was a small breakdown with the hydraulic motor, but it was quickly fixed. Thorough preparations were made for the release of the TBM at site No. 33. A pit was built and equipped. The work has been carried out by Stroymekhservice specialists since May.
– We were responsible for all earthworks. The employees of SMS station No. 6 made a wall in the ground. “We have developed a pit,” said Ilya Shevlyakov, head of section No. 2 of SMS. “For this purpose, five engineering and technical personnel and 12 machine operators were involved. The equipment used at the site was mainly excavators and one bulldozer.
Over the past months, about 110 thousand cubic meters of soil have been removed. Before the approach of “Claudia”, TO-6 prepared a concrete bed 288 meters long for it - the TBM is dragged further along this flooring. This is the first time such an operation has been carried out on an experimental machine. The shield pulls itself, pushing off from the mounted half-rings.
Behind the main part, the entire panel complex is “pulled up”. “Claudia” covered 187 meters in this way; before the next hundred she needs to rest - the mechanized complex with the permanent name will have to “clean” its metal parts. The shield is awaiting refurbishment, during which the cutting tool will be replaced and all elements will be lubricated.
– The cutting tool is changed depending on the geology. But on average, you have to go into the rotor chamber for such an operation once every 300 meters traveled by the machine,” explained Evgeniy Bachurin. – But it happens that we change the cutting tool more often. Under certain loads, we can conclude that it is time to go into the rotor chamber to replace the cutting tool.
In a month, “Claudia” will be in combat formation again. Until mid-December, it will be dragged along the pit for further construction of the tunnel from site No. 33 to site No. 36, towards Lianozovo.