The Florence tunnel boring machine has completed its first mission, boring a 3.4 kilometre tunnel between Bonneuil-en-France and Le Bourget for Line 17 of the Grand Paris Express.

Leaving in December 2020 from the Flandres shaft in Bonneuil-en-France, this all-terrain machine has been underground for more than a year and a half. During this time, the Florence boring machine has passed near three structures and crossed the future Le Bourget Aéroport station. On May 17, 2022, it reached its end-point at Le Bourget.

The 3.4 kilometre tunnel was dug at a depth of between 20 and 30 metres. On average, 10 to 15 metres of tunnel was covered each day.

The machine was named in September 2020, in homage to Florence Coquand, an engineer at the Société du Grand Paris

Line 17 of the Grand Paris Express is consequently taking shape. Once complete, the line will connect 9 stations from Saint-Denis Pleyel to Mesnil-Amelot in 25 minutes, facilitating journeys for nearly 565,000 inhabitants.

The Florence tunnel boring machine will now be dismantled and transported to the Grand Paris Express’ current construction site at Triangle de Gonesse. From there, the machine will complete a final journey towards the Flandres shaft.

source= https://railway-news.com/tunnel-boring-machine-completes-work-for-grand-paris-express-line-17/