Cutterhead Supports for tunnel boring machines (TBMs)

Galbiati has recently developed two bearing supports (Cutterhead Supports) for the cutter head of two hard rock double shield TBMs designed for an excavation project outside Pfunds, Austria.

Below are a few photos of the TBM bearing supports set up entirely in the assembly area of Galbiati’s workshop.

Some technical data of cutterhead supports: a bearing support 4 metres wide with a roller bearing 3.3 metres in diameter, 7 planetary gears with a transmitted power of 315 kW each, and a lubrication system. Gross weight: 60 tons.

The handling of the bearing supports (Cutterhead Supports) at Galbiati’s assembly shop and the subsequent packaging and transport of these was particularly complex due to the size and weight of the supports.

Below are a few photos of the TBM bearing supports during the stages of handling and packaging in the Galbiati’s assembly area.

The Tunnel Boring machines in question, for which the cutterhead supports were intended, will have a cutter head 6.5 metres wide and will be used to drill a hydraulic tunnel for the promising hydroelectric project “Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Inn”. The project will involve the construction of a water supply network in Tyrol, comprising a hydraulic tunnel about 22.6 km long that will be drilled using two hard rock double shield TBMs. The network will take 4 years to complete (2014-2018) and the hydraulic tunnel will produce about 400 GWh of electricity a year from renewable sources, providing energy for more than a hundred thousand homes.