QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Charles MacDonald: “I visited Germany for the commissioning of the TBMs at the Herrenknecht factory in Allmannsweier near Schwanau, just upstream from Strasbourg on the Rhine. They are the world market leader for heavy tunnel boring machines, with about 2,000 workers at company headquarters. When I arrived, I found one of our TBMs already packed in 75 shipping containers and the other completely assembled. During the manufacturing process, the company engineers erect the machines at the factory, and test them, then take them apart and pack them into shipping containers. Souvenir from Germany Martin Herrenknecht photographed in front of the cutting wheel of a TBM at his German factory, and (below) a graphic depiction of the 75 shipping containers needed to transport each monstrous machine around the world.

“These are barged down the Rhine to the huge ‘Europort’ in Rotterdam from where they are shipped overseas. The Herrenknecht engineers accompany each machine, then put it all back together at the destination, re-test, and remain with the operating crews most of the way through the construction.” Through 2009/2010 the project team saw several significant TBM milestones, culminating in the launch of the first TBM ‘Rocksy’ in late July and ‘Sandy’ in mid-August. The TBM names were chosen by six-year-old Emile Bragard and his four year-old sister, Lila, whose father, Christopher, worked on the project in the tunnelling team. The kids were on hand to unveil the names and press the start button for the first launch ceremony.

AirportLink TBM launch timeframe December 2009 TBM 1 Rocksy delivered April 2010 TBM launch box completed April 2010 TBM 2 Sandy delivered May 2010 TBM 1 cutterhead lowering July 2010 TBM 2 cutterhead lowering July 2010 Launch of Rocksy August 2010 Launch of Sandy

For the TBMs, two ‘launch boxes’ (chambers) were built in the Kalinga Park area, where the tunnel would start. The two boxes were built one beside the other because the machines were operating in parallel (two tunnels, one for each direction of traffic). Each chamber was 100m long, 30m wide and 30m deep. The TBMs were assembled in the chambers. This involved the first 60m of each machine being assembled, which could then drive itself forward, so that the next section – responsible for providing the floor of the tunnel – could be attached. Each TBM constructed 100m of tunnel a week, placing a pre-cast lining behind them as they moved. The segments entered in pieces and were placed in a ring behind the shield. The machine actually propelled itself by pushing against that lining with hydraulic rams. This also compressed the lining. Conveyors also came off the back of the TBMs to take away the spoil. These belts went to the surface (up to 2.5km away and then along the surface to trucks – a total distance up to 5km). The further the TBMs penetrated, the longer the supply lines – lining sections in, spoil out – became.

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