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Baptism of the first TBM for the Liefkenshoek
The first of the two pressurised-mud tunnel boring machines built for the Liefkenshoek rail tunnel in Antwerp (Belgium) was baptized on 5 January. Named Schanulleke (from the name of a character in the Belgian Suske & Wiske comic strip), it will dig one of the two (7.3m interior-diameter and 5.9m-long) tunnels for the project. The second TBM, Wiske, arrived on the worksite on 19 January and will be baptized at the beginning of March.
01/27/2010
The Liefkenshoek rail-link project includes financing,
design-construction and maintenance for 38 years of a 16.2 km-long
dual-track structure linking the north and south banks of the port of
Antwerp, passing under the Escaut river. It is designed for circulation
of freight trains.
The contract was signed in November 2008 by the consortium made up of
VINCI Concessions, CFE (VINCI Construction) and BAM PPP. The works,
worth €680 million, are entrusted to VINCI Construction Grands
Projets, MBG (CFE), and two companies from the Dutch group Royal BAM,
with the participation of Soletanche Bachy and its subsidiary Fontec,
both Soletanche Freyssinet (VINCI Construction) entities.