The ‘Mayrit’ tunnel boring machine It is already in its first months of operation under the basement of Madrid with the aim of expand Metro Line 11. The gigantic machine has already left behind the first 672.6 meters of gallery from the future Comillas station and, according to data made public by the Ministry of Housing, Transport and Infrastructure shared by El Debate, confirm that the machine is already gaining quite a bit of momentum.
Progress figures. In less than two months of activity, Mayrit has extracted 46,676.2 cubic meters of earth, as stated by the media, the equivalent of filling about 19 Olympic swimming pools. In addition, 389 of the 3,076 concrete rings that will end up covering the 5,227 meters of tunnel planned between Comillas and Conde de Casal have already been placed. Each ring is made up of seven voussoirs, rhomboidal pieces that are manufactured in Noblejas, Toledo, in a plant specifically built for this work.
How extracted land is managed. The tunnel boring machine tears up the ground with its cutting wheel and the earth travels along a network of conveyor belts that lengthen as the machine advances. These ribbons cross the interior of what will be the Comillas station until they reach the surface, where the earth falls into a pit. with capacity for 8,500 cubic meters. From there, several backhoes load it into a fleet of about 150 trucks that are responsible for the final transfer.
All this extracted material is being used to restore half a dozen mining operations and even an abandoned landfill.
The start. The first month of work was slower than normal because the machine was still in the adjustment phase. Those first 200 meters were done with Mayrit filming. From now on, according to the ministry’s own forecasts, the tunnel boring machine should move between 400 and 500 meters per month, around 15 meters per day, working 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
The next stop. The Ministry’s forecast is that the section between Comillas and Madrid Río, of 1,114 meters, be finished next June. When Mayrit arrives there, it will stop for about two weeks so that the operators can carry out a technical inspection. Then it will continue to Palos de la Frontera, Atocha and, finally, Conde de Casal, the final point of the route and headquarters of the future interchange.
The general director of Collective Transport Infrastructure of the Community of Madrid, Miguel Núñez, calculate The complete excavation will take between 13 and 14 months, which puts the end of drilling around May or June 2027.
Material at large. To complete this section of tunnel, 32,000 tons of steel, 210,000 cubic meters of concrete and more than 25,000 segments will be needed. Just like they count From El Debate, 50 workers work in the Noblejas factory, producing 42 segments a day, equivalent to six complete rings, which are transported to Comillas in vehicles prepared to support up to 38 tons of weight. The investment in this phase exceeds 740 million euros and the overall progress of the works already exceeds 50%.
A bigger project. This entire operation is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. The future Line 11 will be ‘the great diagonal’ of Madrida 33.5 kilometer stretch from Cuatro Vientos to Valdebebas, with 20 stations that will connect key points such as Atocha, the airport, Zendal Hospital or the future Formula 1 circuit in Ifema. When it is finished, it is expected that traveling Madrid from end to end without passing through the center will take around one hour and six minutes. The total investment in the project exceeds 2.5 billion euros and the works will be carried out in phases until 2031.
Cover image | Community of Madrid
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