Austria and Italy come together thanks to the Brenner Base Tunnel railway project. A historic milestone: the breakthrough of both main tunnels took place at the same time.
After many years of hard work on the Brenner Base Tunnel project, the miners' attention is now trained on the rock faces – the thin layers of rock that separate Italy and Austria in the heart of the Alps.
Almost simultaneously, excavators equipped with breakhammers began operating in the east and west main tunnels of construction lot H53 Pfons–Brenner, carrying out the final stage of material removal.
Within about an hour, the final breakthrough had occurred in both tunnel tubes: through a cloud of dust, light shone through the new openings, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the Brenner Base Tunnel.
The final centimetres – the long-awaited moment
And they're through! The historic breakthrough took place at exactly 10.35. Moments later, amid celebrations, miners and project managers entered the tunnel section on the other side of the national border for the first time, shaking hands with their Italian colleagues.
With this breakthrough, the Austrian excavation works of construction lot H53 Pfons–Brenner connected to the already completed main tunnels of the Italian construction lot H61 ‘Mules 2–3’. (....)