Dismantling TBM Delia

TBM Delia Access Tunnel Fault Zone South - 2nd Gotthard Road Tunnel

After reaching the geological fault zone in Airolo, we took over the disassembly of the shield machine (TBM) "Delia" in the access tunnel for the second Gotthard Road Tunnel.

With a cutterhead diameter of 7.4 meters, "Delia" is one of two "smaller" tunnel boring machines used on this project. Not only was "Delia" a powerful machine, but it was also the world’s first pink tunnel boring machine.

After the 600-ton shield machine reached its final position in the nearly 5km long tunnel, we used our strand jack system to remove it from its drilling position.

For the disassembly, we used a specially developed and space saving portal structure. This allowed us to disassembly the machine step by step into larger components. Special care was taken to ensure the machine was disassembled in a way that allowed for the safe and efficient transport of the parts out of the tunnel.