The third of eight tunnel boring machines (TBMs) that will dig the tunnels for the Greater Tel Aviv light rail red line began work today at the Ganei Gil site near the Diamond Exchange in Ramat Gan. The 7.5-meter diameter TBM, which weighs 900 tons, is digging eastward at a depth of 30 meters. It will pass through the future light rail stations at Abba Hillel Silver and Bialik Streets in Ramat Gan, and will finish at the Ben Gurion station on the border of Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak.
Eight TBMs will eventually be used to dig 12 kilometers of double tunnels between Petah Tikva and Tel Aviv. Ganei Gil is the launching site for four of the TBMs: two westward via the Arlosorov, Shaul Hamelech, and Yehudit stations until the Carlebach station, and two eastward, the first of which began today.
Two more TBMs will be launched from the Herzl shaft in Tel Aviv towards the Carlebach station via Allenby, and two more from the planned light rail depot in Petah Tikva towards the Ben Gurion station in Bnei Brak. The first will leave from Petah Tikva next month through the Em Hamoshavot and Aharonovitch stations.
According to the Ministry of Transport's announcement, in accordance with the diggers' tradition of giving women's names to the TBMs, the machine that began operating today is called Rosa Parks, the US pioneer in the struggle against anti-black racism in US public transportation.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on May 28, 2017
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