As part of the rock and tunnel construction lecture, a group of interested students visited the construction lot SBT 2.1 – intermediate attack Fröschnitzgraben – the construction site of the Semmering Base Tunnel. The construction site equipment with two shaft structures and the caverns underground were visited.

After a presentation of the key data of the impressive construction project and a safety briefing, the group of students was divided into two smaller groups. Dipl.-Ing. Schuller first showed one part the construction site equipment and the information tower above ground and explained everything in detail, while the other part with Dipl.-Ing. Schwengerer entered the caverns built 400m below the earth's surface via the shaft structure. From here, the tunnel tubes will be excavated and blasted in the direction of Mürzzuschlag and in the direction of Gloggnitz by mechanized tunnelling with two tunnel boring machines. One machine is already in the mountains, the second was just assembled in the caverns during the excursion. In this way, the students were able to marvel at the fascinating machine from all sides and at close range in a way that is very rarely possible. Subsequently, the groups were exchanged so that all students could get an overall impression of the diverse planning and execution processes.

A big thank you goes to Dipl.-Ing. Schuller and Dipl.-Ing. Schwengerer for the exciting construction site visit!