Brenner Base Tunnel: the construction site for the Isarco River underpass has been closed
The areas that in these years have been occupied by the construction sites have been returned to the South Tyrolean communities
The closing of the construction site for the Isarco Underpass of the Brenner Base Tunnel, for which Italferr - the engineering company of the FS Group's Infrastructure Hub – has led the Works Supervision function in consortium with other companies, was celebrated on the occasion of the feast of Saint Barbara.
This is an important step forward for the realisation of a fundamental infrastructure that will strengthen the Verona - Innsbruck - Munich axis, (TEN-T Core Corridor No. 5 "Scandinavia - Mediterranean; Helsinki-La Valletta”) and improve the efficiency of passenger and freight mobility.
The Brenner Tunnel is in fact an infrastructure of enormous strategic importance, not only for Italy but for the entire European mobility system and that, once the entire section is completed, will lead to a 69% reduction in travel time and will increase freight transport capacity on the route by 50%.
With a length of 55 km, it will connect Fortezza (Bolzano, Italy) to Innsbruck (Austria). Near Innsbruck, it will interconnect with the existing railway bypass tunnel and will consequently become 64 km long, making it the longest underground link in the world.
The tunnel’s configuration includes two single-track main bores connected to each other every 333 m by transverse connecting tunnels. Between the two main bores and at a depth of about 12 m lower, an exploratory tunnel is planned prior to the construction of the two railway bores.
The non-functional construction lot "Sottoattraversamento Isarco" (Isarco underpass) constitutes the southern end of the Brenner Base Tunnel, before access to the Fortezza station.
The railway line bores and interconnection tunnels were realised thanks to design choices that paid particular attention to the protection of the natural heritage.
In fact, the geological context and the presence of the Isarco river, of the Brenner motorway, of the SS 12 road and of the Verona-Brenner railway line required the adoption of highly technical design solutions such as the use of ground freezing for the safe excavation of the tunnels underneath the Isarco river.
The adoption of the freezing technique made it possible to construct the tunnels without temporarily diverting the watercourse of the Isarco River, a solution fully in favour of the environment.
