120 meters long and weighing 1,200 tons: U2 tunnel boring machine arrives in Vienna

• Factory acceptance of the tunnel boring machine by Wiener Linien, STRABAG and Porr
• From fall, it will construct the new U2 tunnels between Matzleinsdorfer Platz and Augustinplatz

Schwanau/Vienna, 31.01.2024 Once the station shafts and emergency exits of the individual subway stations have been constructed, it's time for the tunnel boring machine (TBM). From autumn, it will be working its way through around 4 kilometers of Vienna's underground to construct the new U2 tunnels between Matzleinsdorfer Platz and Augustinplatz. The factory acceptance of the tunnel boring machine by Wiener Linien, STRABAG and PORR marks another milestone in the U2xU5 public transport expansion project.

The machine, which was specially designed for Vienna, was manufactured in Schwanau, at Herrenknecht's German site. The employees of ARGE U2 17-21, the consortium consisting of STRABAG and Porr, have been assembling the TBM together with the manufacturer's colleagues over the past few months. It has a total length of 120 meters and weighs an impressive 1,200 tons. Dismantled into individual parts, it will be transported from southern Germany to Vienna over the next few months, where it will be reassembled at Matzleinsdorfer Platz. In the fall, the TBM will start full operation: similar to an operational "buttonhole method", the work with the TBM will take place underground. All the earth excavated by the tunnel boring machine will be transported away via the central shaft at Matzleinsdorfer Platz. This saves 20,000 truck journeys through the city and 75 tons of CO2.