The driving of the longest tunnels of Adler - Alpika-Service Mountain Resort combined motorway and railway route will be completed early in February this year.

The service/drainage gallery has been already driven. The shield driving of the motorway tunnel and railway tunnel is now underway.

"We have already driven 3,117 meters of the motorway tunnel, which is 3,199-meters long as per design, and 4,200 meters of the railway tunnel, which is 4,651-meters long as per design," says Viktor Sopeltsev, Deputy Chief Engineer, Bamtonnelstroy. "Fractured zones that could cause a delay or even suspension of operation of the tunnel boring machine were our main concerns during railway tunnel driving. Certain engineering measures were taken such as additional galleries that have been driven for a more detailed investigation of geological conditions to mitigate the risks. We were planning to use the galleries for emergency maintenance of the machine in case the machine gets stuck. We have completed the driving through the fractured zones. Because all appropriate measures have been taken, the tunnel boring machine did not stop within the challenging sections of the project."

After the tunnel construction has been completed, the specialists will remove 10.2-meter diameter Lovat-394 Tunnel Boring Machine and 13.2-meter diameter Herrenknecht-13210 Tunnel Boring Machine which will be used for construction of a railway tunnel and motorway tunnel, respectively.