The government delegate, Pedro Blanco, supervised today in Sarria the progress in the works of the new tunnel of Oural that Adif is carrying out with an investment of 51.5 million euros. “We achieved 54% of the implementation of this new infrastructure, with almost 1 kilometer excavated, at a rate of 45 meters per week, in the largest performance of the project of renovation of the Ourense Monforte corridor of Lemos Lugo”, said the delegate, who valued these works “with which we place Lugo in the place it deserves”. “After years of paralysis of previous executives, it is the government of Pedro Sánchez that is making historic investments, demonstrating its commitment to ensure that Lugo and its province have 21st century communication infrastructures.”
The delegate traveled this Wednesday to the Sarriano municipality to know in situ the improvements made in the Oural tunnel, which progress according to the established schedule, “once the technical and engineering challenge that always involves implementing an action of these dimensions and characteristics, in which more than 100 people are working”. He was accompanied by the deputy delegate in the province, Isabel Rodríguez; the mayor of Sarria, Claudio Garrido; the deputy mayor of the City of Lugo, Miguel Fernández Méndez; the provincial deputy Pablo Rivera; the deputy director of Operations Center of the Northwest Network of Adif, Julio Sánchez, and the manager of the Maintenance Area of Ourense and P.D. Northwest of Adif, Luis Palacios.
Pedro Blanco stressed that “we are paying a debt to the Lucenses, with an investment of 546 million, to modernize the railway that will improve the reliability and competitiveness of the Ourense – Monforte de Lemos section, fundamental given its incorporation into the Atlantic Freight Corridor, while connecting Lugo with high speed through Ourense, making our companies more competitive and boosting the economy of the interior Galicia”.
In this regard, the delegate insisted that the Government will continue to promote improvements in railway matters and demonstrate this with facts. Thus, Adif already executed or contracted actions worth 485 million euros, which represent 88% of the total investment of the modernization of this corridor. “And we do it because we are aware that these investments are key and decisive for the development of the territories, with the main objective of guaranteeing the right to mobility of people and equal opportunities. Therefore, our road map is clear: having good infrastructures that prioritize efficiency, utility and sustainability, contributing to design the mobility of the present and also of the railway future of Lugo”.
“Projects like this in Sarria, the unblocking of the intermodal station of Lugo, with 21.6 million; or the expansion of the variant of A Pobra de San Xiao, in Láncara, with another 21 million, exemplify that for the Government the territorial structuring is a true State policy, betting on sustainable mobility and taking Lugo out of the abandonment in which some left him, working and putting investments on the table so that the Lucenses have a decent railway,” added Pedro Blanco.
“Therefore, there is still work to be done, but it is evident that the turntables changed and that today Lugo and Galicia are present in the plans of the Government,” concluded the Delegate.
New Oural Tunnel
The solution adopted at this point is the construction of a new Oural tunnel (1.8 km) that will replace the current tunnel, in service for 140 years, improving its performance. Its construction, integrated in the projects of modernization of the railway corridor Ourense - Monforte de Lemos - Lugo, pursues a dual purpose: to improve the state of the infrastructure and increase the reliability of the lines and the quality of service.
The new tunnel runs parallel to the current one, separated by 30 meters between axes, which will be maintained as an emergency gallery and will have enough space to house the catenary, as well as emergency sidewalk and evacuation galleries, among other elements. The structure is exposed with a section of 52 m2 in a single track (as well as the adjacent sections), which will be executed from the two excavation fronts to minimize execution times. The track assembly will be carried out ‘on board’ inside the tunnel and part of the exterior, with bivial passages for the access of emergency or maintenance vehicles.
The tunnel will have a line contact area (catenary), signalling and communication systems adapted to the new projected solution, ventilation system and civil protection systems, as well as telecommunications facilities and two auxiliary facilities zones (ZIA), one in each dock.
Three transversal evacuation galleries will be executed, with a maximum distance of 500 m between one and the other. The central gallery section will be suitable for vehicles, while the sides will be of the pedestrian type. The adaptation of the current tunnel as an emergency gallery will involve the removal of track and ballast, the execution of a walkable concrete hearth, as well as a waterproofing treatment. Likewise, one upper step and two emergency paths will be executed, one for each mouth.
Two-phase excavation
The excavation of the tunnel is done in two phases, using mechanical and explosive means following the guidelines of the New Austrian Method (NATM). The advance phase includes the excavation of the upper part of the tunnel from each of the mouths until it meets inside, an operation that is called “cale”.
Currently, the degree of advance of the excavation is 365 meters from the South mouth (Monforte side) and 610 meters from the North mouth (Lugo side), at a rhythm of 45 m weekly. Once the tunnel is “quiet”, the remaining two 2.5 m of the base will be excavated until its complete section is achieved. Subsequently, the entire tunnel will be covered with concrete and the rails will be mounted on concrete plates; in addition, the electrification elements and the protection and safety equipment of the tunnel will be placed.
Complementary works include the adaptation of the current tunnel as an access and maintenance gallery; the construction of two access roads to the safe areas of the mouths; the replacement of a power line and the construction of an upper passage to give continuity to the Vilamaior road.