Budimex Begins Construction Of New Vistula Sewer Main In Warsaw
MPWiK of Warsaw and Budimex have launched construction of the Vistula Sewer Main. The tunnel boring machine to be used to build the longest section will begin from Wybrzeże Gdyńskie Street. The whole sewer will be 9.5 km long, with 5.5 km to be built during the current project stage.
The 145-ton machine arrived at the construction site on three trucks, which were used to transport the head, the 3.8 m boring shield and the power pack. The elements of the machine were first assembled and then moved nearly 14 m below the surface of the ground to the start chamber. Once the necessary tests are complete, tunnelling will begin.
The Vistula Sewer Main, which will have a total length of 9.5 km, is planned to be constructed based on a trenchless method of microtunnelling. As the head advances the new sections of the pipe are installed.
“The Vistula Sewer Main is going to be the longest microtunnelling project in Poland, with a diameter of more than 3 m,” says Marek Smółka, MPWiK spokesperson. “A 5.5 kilometre long section of the sewer is to be built by Budimex during the current stage, with all tunnelling operations planned for completion by 2022.”
The Vistula Sewer Main will lie between 6 m to 15 m below the ground level and follow these streets: Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie, Wybrzeże Gdańskie, and Wybrzeże Gdyńskie. The primary diameter will be 3.2 m to achieve a total storm water capacity of approximately 50,000 m3.
“The tunnelling and other work on the construction of the longest section of the sewer will be carried out 24/7,” says Michał Wrzosek of Budimex S. A. “The pipe-laying technique to be used in this project is a trenchless method, as the safest choice for the environment and for everyone working directly on the project. It also helps minimise the amount of construction work above ground and any obstruction to road traffic. The pipe-laying process is controlled remotely and needs to be extremely precise to reduce the number of personnel in the tunnel. The time to complete the tunnelling work is less than required by traditional open-trench methods,” adds Piotr Kurowicki of Budimex S.A., the contractor’s representative.
The Vistula Sewer Main, which should take approximately 3 years to complete, is one of the key projects developed by MPWiK. It will provide temporary containment and discharge of peak grey and storm water from the western side of Warsaw during rainstorms. The contained water will be directed through Wiślana Pumping Station, a facility to be built during this project, and diverted to Czajka WTP.
The project is delivered under the EU project “Water supply and wastewater pre-treatment in Warsaw, Phase 6” and includes the construction of the Lindego Bis and Mokotowski Bis Sewage Mains plus a central control system for the combined sewer system in Warsaw. An integral component of the project is the holding tank, which was commissioned this year at Czajka WTP. The improvements to the wastewater containment system and the increased holding capacity of the sewer system in Warsaw will help reduce the negative impact of climate change, including flooding of city streets during torrential rain. This work is carried out under a CAPEX project plan being implemented by MPWiK S.A. over a period of several years to complete the objectives for the prevention and mitigation of discharge from storm water overflows during rainstorms.
AVN TBM technical specifications
- Target tunnel length: 9.5 km
- AVN overall weight: 145 t
- Overall length: 8.1 m
- Shield diameter: 3.8 m
- Boring speed: 14 m/24 h
- Boring launch: December 2020
- Planned boring end: 2022