tunnel's - Trenchless International

A crew member helps angle the TBM.
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BOOTH NO.
CEO at European XFEL GmbH Dr
Massimo Altarelli said “Tunnelling is one of
the most difficult areas of the construction.”
Dr Helmut Dosch, Chairman of the
Deutsche Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Board, head shareholder of the European
XFEL GmbH said “Completion of tunnelling
work on time has enabled us to achieve
a key milestone for this unique research
facility. And now there’s nothing to stop the
installation of technical infrastructure and
accelerator components.”
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Ameli and Tula
bring light to Hamburg
TUNNELLING
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One of the TBMs utilised to excavate a complex tunnel system network in Germany.
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October 2012 - Trenchless International
Excavation of a tunnel system for the X-ray Free-Electron Laser European Research Facility in
metropolitan Hamburg, in Northern Germany, was successfully completed in June 2012 following a
Herrenknecht tunnel boring machine, named Ameli, entering its last target shaft.
For the project, two Herrenknecht
tunnel boring machines (TBM) covered
a total distance of 5.78 km between
July 2010 and June 2012.
Ameli and its TBM sister Tula had to
be relocated several times for the eleven
tunnel sections between the research
centre DESY in Hamburg Bahrenfeld, and
Schenefeld in the district of Pinneberg. Laser
technology provided by the Gesellschaft für
Vermessungstechnik kept the two TBMs on
course over the route.
As of 2015, electron and x-ray light will
be flowing through the European X-ray
Free-Electron Laser (XFEL) research project
tunnel system.
Steffen Benad from Herrenknecht said
“Technically, the tunnel system is extremely
complicated.”
The European XFEL basically consists
of underground structures and a ramified
tunnel system. In the main tunnel,
electrodes are accelerated to practically
the speed of light. They are then brought
to the point of transmitting highly intensive
X-ray laser flashes with the aid of special
magnetic fields in a tunnel fan. Through
them absolutely new opportunities for
research in the nano field are opened up
for scientists and industrial users alike.
In this way, atomic details of viruses and
cells can be deciphered, 3-D recordings
from the nano-cosmos made and chemical
reactions filmed.‎
Up to 27,000 ultra-short laser flashes
per second will be generated in the x-ray
range by XFEL with the aim of enabling,
for example, the shooting of chemical
reactions, and giving rise to entirely new
research opportunities for physicists,
biologists, chemists, doctors and material
scientists.
The two 500 and 560 t Mixshields with
diameters of 6.16 m and 5.45 m were
baptised Tula (tunnel for laser) and Ameli
(Am Ende Licht – light at the end). They
were used by Hochtief AG and Bilfinger
Berger AG for excavating the complex
tunnel system network.
In order to keep them exactly on course
in the 3.4 km plant, Herrenknecht used a
laser-guided navigation system from VMT,
subsidiary of Herrenknecht AG based in
Bruchsal. By late July 2011, Tula had
successfully completed its task for the more
than 2 km long main tunnel and the two
further 600 m long sections.
The tube system network at the end
of the tunnel proved particularly complex
for the engineers. The total of eight tunnel
sections involved moving Ameli three times
through a finished shaft and lifting it out of
the shaft four times for relocation.
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October 2012 - Trenchless International
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