TBM Gantry Crane | TELT Lyon-Turin

The Turin-Lyon, which is an essential part of the Mediterranean Corridor of the European TEN-T network, is a high-capacity railway line for goods and passengers that extends for 270 km, of which 70% in France and 30% in Italy . The cross-border section, of which TELT is in charge, extends for 65 km between Susa/Bussoleno and Saint-Jeande-Maurienne and is co-financed 40% by Europe, 35% by Italy and 25% by France. The main work consists of the Moncenesio base tunnel, a 57.5 km double-tube tunnel that allows you to cross the Alps at plain level, reducing the times and costs of transporting goods and people. The realization of the work is sanctioned by seven Agreements, including four international treaties signed by Italy and France in 1996, 2001, 2012 and 2015. With the ratification of the Additional Protocol, signed in Venice in 2016, the two countries have given the green light for the final works on the cross-border section of the line.

Every year 42 million tonnes of goods travel along the Alpine arc between Italy and France, over 90% by road. Crossing the Alps thanks to the base tunnel guarantees higher standards in terms of safety, speed and reduction of consumption compared to the Frejus tunnel currently in use built in 1871. This will allow the Alpine environment to be improved, moving up to 1,000,000 people trucks from the road to the railway, making the train economically competitive for the transport of people and goods and connecting and enhancing areas with different vocations, with positive consequences for the territories.

The excavation of the tunnel is carried out mainly through the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), which allows long sections to be excavated underground, minimizing the inconvenience of surface construction sites, noise and the dispersion of dust.

The TBM is a real mobile construction site that advances underground, digging at an average speed of approximately 12-15 meters per day. The machine is equipped with all the equipment necessary for excavation, disposal of debris and construction of the tunnel lining.

Regarding the 6/7 Operational Site, the TBM has a length of 180 m, a diameter of 10.4 m and a power of 8,100 kilowatts, weighs 2,300 tons and is equipped with 61 cutters to crush the rock. It comes from the “Herrenknecht” factory in Germany and is destined for the Saint-Martin-la-Porte construction site to excavate towards Italy. It will be used to excavate the 9 km of the north tube, alongside the already completed work of the "Federica" mole on the south tube, between Saint-Martin-La-Porte and La Praz.

The essential components of the TBM are the shield, a metal cylinder that encloses the machine; the milling head that carries out the excavation and back-up, consisting of wagons supporting the shield.

LMSTEEL Consulting sagl was involved in the Structural and Construction design of the movement and lifting system of the TBM Head in question through the design of a mobile lifting system in metal carpentry.

For the structural design, the relevant regulations were used including Eurocode UNI EN 1993 "Design of steel structures" and CNR-UNI 10011. In particular, our mission has developed the following activities:

• Basic and detailed Structural Design through the development of a finite element model of the entire steel structure using "beams" type elements considering the operational lifting phases, and the creation of local "plates" type models for verifying the tension state location of bolted and welded connections
• 3D BIM geometric design with the “Tekla Structures” software considering the positioning and interferences between the main structure and the hydraulic movement systems
• Workshop and Erection plans for the construction of Steel carpentry
• Calculation report including stability and balance checks

The finite element calculation models (FEM) are developed with Straus7 software, the local checks with IdeaStatica, and the 3D BIM geometric models with Tekla Structures up to the creation of the workshop plans.

More information on the project at the following link:

https://www.telt.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/TELT_LyonTurin_pieghevole_nov_2018_IT.pdf

https://www.telt.eu/it/