Brazil receives Latin America’s largest tunnel-boring machine via São Sebastião port

A new tunnel-boring machine (TBM) for the expansion of São Paulo’s Metro Line 2-Green arrived in Brazil on Friday after being unloaded at the Port of São Sebastião on the state’s northern coast.

The equipment began its journey in late January from the port of Taicang, China, and was transported disassembled. Commonly known in Brazil as a “tatuzão,” the machine will excavate about 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) of tunnels between the future Penha station in São Paulo and the Dutra station near the border with the city of Guarulhos.

Measuring 133 meters in length, with a diameter of 11.67 meters and a total weight of 2,600 tonnes, the machine is the largest ever used in metro construction projects in Brazil and across Latin America.

The new TBM surpasses the dimensions of the Cora Coralina tunneling machine currently operating on the same line’s expansion works, which weighs about 2,100 tonnes. Once the project advances, two TBMs will operate simultaneously on the excavation works.

The machine is designed to operate safely across different types of soil and can advance up to 15 meters per day in soil and around 10 meters per day in rock.

In addition to the cutting wheel, the equipment includes a “backup” system housing conveyor systems for excavated material, a hyperbaric chamber, ventilation equipment and structures used to install the concrete segments that line the tunnel walls.

After unloading on the São Paulo coast, the machine will undergo customs procedures before being transported by road to the construction site of the future Penha station, where it will be assembled over the coming months.

Excavation on that stretch is expected to begin in the second half of the year. Around 150 professionals will operate the equipment, working in three daily shifts.

The expansion of Line 2-Green is part of a broader program to expand São Paulo’s metro network. The extension will connect Vila Prudente to the Penha district and later reach the Dutra corridor, increasing rail transport capacity in the city’s eastern zone and strengthening the connection with Guarulhos.

Once completed, the expansion is expected to serve more than 700,000 passengers per day and help redistribute passenger flows across the metropolitan rail network.

Source: Agência SP

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