Tpmk “Elena” and “Sofia” finished in the north of the bkl

“Elena” was waited underground

The Herrenknecht S-771 mechanized tunnel boring complex with the name “Elena” finished digging behind the station dead ends on June 4 "Savelovskaya" of the Big Circle Line (BCL) of the capital's metro. He built a right-hand distillation tunnel 3.5 km long from a round pit near the Riga overpass to construction site No. 24.

The gantry crane in the dismantling chamber at Savelovskaya was installed to dismantle the Elena TBM

The completion of excavation of one of the longest tunnels in the northeast of the Baltic Line became a special day for Mosmetrostroy. The shield came out into a dismantling chamber specially prepared for it by the builders from SMU-8 at a depth of 65 meters. It is possible to get into it only through a vertical trunk. The unique operation of Elena's exit underground was observed by the mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin, and the company's management. The mayor noted that the construction of the BCL has crossed the equator, the readiness of stations and tunnels is 54%.

The TBM launched on December 12, 2018 from a unique round pit located on site No. 17. The route passed at a depth of 45 to 70 meters in difficult hydrogeological conditions. The BKL complex transited the Rizhskaya and Maryina Roshcha stations under construction, constructing “pilot tunnels” on the site of the future stations. In the future, their diameter will be expanded from 6 to 8.5 meters for side station sections. Over the past months, “Elena” and the teams of tunnelers from SMU-12 have been assigned complex, critical areas of work in the area of ​​the Moscow and Kursk railways, as well as existing stations and structures of the Moscow metro.

– TBM stops were exclusively for standard procedures for replacing cutting tools and timely maintenance. This result was achieved thanks to the help of a group of specialists from UMM LLC,” commented Viktor Popov, deputy chief engineer of SMU-12.

According to him, they did not immediately install a vertical conveyor for Elena. Mainly due to cramped conditions (the diameter of the pit is 29 meters), and in parallel, the Inna TBM was installed on the site.

And later this became impractical due to the significant distance of “Elena” from the pit. After the shield was released, Mosgosstroynadzor specialists checked the quality of the new tunnel, assessed the ellipticity of the rings and the level of lining-soil contact (between the tunnel rings and the ground) for compliance with the requirements. The tests carried out did not reveal any deviations from the design.

“The shield came out with an error of no more than two centimeters,” said Andrey Vyalykh, head of the contract at Mosmetrostroy JSC. “This is an almost ideal value for a shield diameter of more than six meters. And the tunnel itself is almost never horizontal. This is done to ensure that the drainage system works correctly.

“Sofia” traveled almost five kilometers

The tunnel boring mechanized complex (TPMK) Herrenknecht S-770 with the name “Sofia” on June 19 successfully completed the excavation of the right-hand running tunnel from the Sokolniki station under construction on the Big Circle Line to site No. 17 near Rizhskaya overpass.

TBM "Sofia" broke through the wall of a round pit

The excavation was carried out at a depth of 25 to 45 m under the existing Sokolniki station, the park of the same name, and the railway tracks of the Moscow Railway. During the excavation period, additional measures were taken to ensure uninterrupted operation of existing metro and Russian Railways facilities.

TBM "Sofia" completed a 4.7 km excavation from the ramp chamber (site No. 5.2), located in front of the Elektrozavodskaya station, to the round assembly and dismantling chamber (site No. 17), passing through the Elektrozavodskaya and Sokolniki stations of the BKL.

At Sokolniki station, in the area of the future vestibule No. 2, a chamber was built in which work was carried out to rehabilitate the TBM and on May 16, 2018, the start of excavation of the last section for this machine on the BKL, towards the Rizhskaya station, with a length of 2,249 linear meters.

BTW

“Elena” and “Sofia” have completely completed the construction of the right tunnel of the northeastern section of the BCL. In parallel, excavation of the left section continues in the section from Sokolniki station to Savelovskaya using two TBMs Herrenknecht S-755 “Tatyana” and Herrenknecht S-772 “Inna”. A second dismantling chamber is already being prepared for “Inna” behind the dead ends of the “Savelovskaya” BCL. Its release is expected in September. At the same time, they are waiting for “Tatyana” in a round pit. Together they have less than 1,300 meters to go.