Boros and Bochkor “baptize” the tunnel boring machines

By the results of voting closed earlier the popular broadcasters, Lajos Boros and Gábor Bochkor received the largest number of votes. The commentators solemnly baptized Boros and Bochkor the two TBMs named as S355 and S354 earlier.

Of the 1.9 million votes, the two presenters received nearly 740 thousand, by almost 240 thousand votes more than “Fúró Rudi,” the runner-up. „This massive interest proved that the residents of Budapest have built a more intimate relationship with the metro project than earlier, as I hoped” – said on the occasion of the baptism mthe initiator of eponymy, Miklós Hagyó, Deputy Mayor of Budapest.
The winners selected their “godsons” among themselves. True to the traditions Lajos Boros and Gábor Bochkor baptized the giant machines by a bottle of champaign each. The Northern TBM that started its duty on April 3 was baptized Bockhor. This TBM has already built a 74 meter length of the tunnel along route “Zsuzsa” (Susie) and it is scheduled to reach the Tétényi Road station at the beginning of September. The Southern TBM baptized “Boros” hit the road along route Éva (Eve) on May 9.
Miklós Hagyó, Deputy Mayor of Budapest, the „godfathers” and the members of the selection committee, the pop stars Klári Balázs and György Korda, and Péter Hajdú broadcaster took part in the baptism ceremony held in the launching pit.
The eponymy of the TBMs took place in two rounds. First, the Municipality of Budapest invited ideas. More than six thousand senders submitted approximately two thousand suggestions at the Budapest Portal. The selection committee composed of popular personalities selected the twenty doublets considered the best. In the second round, voters cast votes for the twenty doublets selected, and the Boros-Bochkor doublet came up as the winner. „The vehemence of this web-based voting rendered unserviceable on several occasions the Budapest server of the Municipality of Budapest due to the continuous high load” – said Miklós Hagyó. After this, in the live broadcast of “Boomerang” of radio station ”Sláger Rádió” Miklós Hagyó, Deputy Mayor of Budapest handed over to the two eponyms the official certificate of baptism, authorizing the “godfathers” to solemnly baptize the two TBMs of the fourth line of the Metro.
The construction of tunnels of the fourth line of the Metro follows the schedule
Starting from the launch date of the first TBM BAMCO, the contractor, have at their disposal 106 weeks to complete the construction of the metro line from Etele Square to the Keleti Railway Station. This time-period also includes the pilot operation. Currently the project proceeds as scheduled.
Construction of tunnels using TBMs is the state-of-the-art technology tried and proven in a number of countries worldwide. Each metro project, however, calls for a custom-built TBM that qualifies, from a certain point of view, as prototype. For this reason a few weeks of pilot operation follows the commissioning of the first TBM, during which each component and instrument of the 116 meters long equipment train is “fine-tuned” and tested. The TBM is tested and prepared for all kinds of emergency situations including fire, inrush of water, etc. During fine-tuning the TBM and the works need to be stopped frequently to avoid encountering problems in critical phases of construction such as in the section beneath River Danube. Practically this initial shakedown phase helps “man, machine and rock” learn each-other.
Some interesting details
- More than 3800 tubings are built-in in the tunnels, each weighing more than 3 tons.
- Each tunnel ring consists of six tubings.
- The performance of the two TBMs exceeds 3200 BHP.
- The length of tunnels is approximately 7200 meters.