After 5.7 kilometres and one and a half year tunneling “Otto“ reached one of the largest tunnelling shield in Europe. Their goal in Wiesing was achieved in the beginning of February – around six months earlier than expected. Exactly 619 days long the 110 m long and 2,700 tons heavy boring giant excavated through the ground of the Lower Inn Valley in Austria around the clock. The rolling tunnel boring machine started in Brixlegg. On its way it crossed the Valley without problems, the Lower Valley highway, a natural gas pipeline, the double-railed railroad line of the ÖBB and the Wiesinger Bridge – partially with only 13 m covering.

Enormous efforts towards the establishment of the double-railed railway tunnel had preceded the exact entry into the intended cavern. The 270 tons heavy, rotating cutting wheel of the tunnel bore machine excavated almost 770,000 m³ ground from the underground. Several hydraulic pumps conveyed the excavated material through kilometre long steel pipelines to the surface. During tunnelling 2,875 tubbing rings or 23,000 tubbing stones, each weighing 14 tons were installed in the threeshift operation. An 18-person tunnelling team was responsible for this.

After dismantling and removal of the tunnel bore machine, work continues without interruption with the completion of the 154-million Euro project in section H3-4 Muenster-Wiesing, whose construction was contracted to the Max Bögl Group in ARGE. The installation of the concrete inner shell must be finished until 2010. The new Lower Inn Valley railway is part of the northern inlet route to the Brenner basis tunnel and at the same time the TEN-railway line project of the Berlin–Palermo. With 40 km total length, from which 32 km is tunnel, the new Lower Inn Valley railway offers new capacities in railway traffic – at speeds of up to 250 km/h as from 2012.