TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) arrived in Świnoujście from the port of Nansha in China on the Da Chang ship, crossing the Northern Sea Route.
– It can be said that today the prospects that lie ahead of us in terms of permanent – finally – Świnoujście connection with Poland are implemented. (…) About half a year – this is the time when the contractor will build the launch chamber, when he will assemble the TBM machine in it, which is being unloaded today, and this machine will be able to start drilling the tunnel – Janusz Żmurkiewicz, the president of Świnoujście, said during the press briefing. He added that the machine will be “baptized” earlier, the name of which will be chosen by the townspeople.
– This government said from the beginning that its goal is the policy of sustainable development, the policy of eliminating exclusions – both in the social sphere (…), but also in the spatial and communication dimension. (…) This translates into specific problems of people in their everyday lives, for example residents of Świnoujście and guests who have to use ferry crossings, which is inconvenient and hinders everyday functioning – said Marcin Horała, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure.
Świnoujście: unloading of the machine part that will bore the tunnel under Świną
TBM was produced in China, especially for drilling a tunnel under Świną. It is 101 m long and weighs 2.74 thousand. tone. It will drill under the bottom of the Świna river, at the same time making the tunnel casing made of prefabricated elements.
The drilling machine will start drilling on the Uznam island and after passing under the Świna bottom, it will finish its work on the Wolin island. The tunnel at its deepest point will be 10 meters below the bottom of the strait, which is 13.5 meters deep at that point.
The length of the investment will be 3.4 km; the tunnel itself, which will connect the islands of Usedom and Wolin, will be 1.48 km long. The tunnel will be a one-pipe tunnel with a two-lane roadway.
Świnoujście: construction of the starting chamber is in progress
Currently, a launch chamber is being built on the island of Usedom – it will be 120 m long and 20 m wide. An excavation is made for the bottom slab of the chamber. On the Wolin Island, a TBM receiving chamber is being built. There is also a prefabrication plant in which elements of the tunnel lining (tubings) are made.
The investor is the city of Świnoujście, and the substitute investor – the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways, Szczecin Branch.
The cost of the investment is over PLN 912 million, of which over PLN 775 million is EU funding. The rest, the investor, the city of Świnoujście, he adds from his own budget. The works are to be completed in the last quarter of 2022. The contractor is a consortium of PORR and Gulermak.
Currently, passenger and car ferries run from the island of Wolin to the island of Usedom, where there is an administrative and service center and a seaside district with tourist and spa facilities, there are passenger and car ferries on two crossings – Warszów and Centrum.
The tunnel boring is scheduled to start in March 2021. The construction of the permanent connection is to be completed in September 2022.
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