The company has excavated the 7,528 metre Sorbas tunnel in less than one year
Sando, in partnership with FCC, has completed the excavation of tube II of the Sorbas tunnel in Almeria. The tunnel, part of the Sorbas-Barranco de los Gafarillos section of the High speed AVE line, has a total length of 7.52 kilometres, representing 98.7% of this section. When completed the Sorbas tunnel will be the longest tunnel in Andalucia.
The event was held at the south end of tube II, where guests included the vice-secretary of Public Works Jesús Miranda Hita; the president of Adif, Antonio González Marín; the vice-president and managing director of Sando, Luis Sánchez Manzano, and Sando’s general director of infrastructure José Manuel Escámez Abad.
Each tube of the Sorbas tunnel has a free section of 52 m2, separated by a distance of 26 metres. Tube II, completed today, was executed using two construction methods: the New Austrian Method, using concrete sections and linings (some 820 metres), and the rest (some 6.6 km) using a tunnel boring machine or TBM.
The Sorbas tunnel, the longest in Andalucia, longer than the Abdalajís tunnel of the Malaga AVE, passes through a geologically complex area and has a gradient of 1.25%.
The double shield TBM used in the Sorbas tunnel was specifically designed for rock perforation, and will soon begin excavation of the second tube. This same machine was used by Sando-FCC in the La Cabrera tunnel, part of the Madrid-Valencia AVE line, where it broke the world record for daily tunnel excavation seven times.
A series of modifications were made to the TBM, named “Alcazaba”, to adapt it to the specific characteristics of the site, including a new cutting wheel appropriate for the geology of the terrain.
Sando is a leading international company in the civil construction sector, with a reputation for experience, technical expertise and environmental responsibility.
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