Since the cavern was connected to the power station thanks to the successful breakthrough of the energy discharge tunnel in mid-January, work on the pumped storage power station has been progressing relentlessly. The team has reached another important milestone: the formwork, reinforcement and concrete work for the crane runway beams in the cavern have been successfully completed. The last concreting took place at the end of January. The crane runway will be used for material transport during the runtime. When the cavern is in operation, the crane runway beams will serve as a support for the wooden vaulted ceiling of the Schwarzenbachwerk cavern section. After the concrete has cured, the anchors will be tensioned to ensure that the crane runway beams are securely fixed. The formwork, which served as a supporting structure during the work, will then be systematically dismantled.
Driving work lays the foundation for further work
Another decisive step was taken in mid-February: the actual crane was successfully lifted into place. This has created the conditions for the next construction phases to be implemented efficiently. The driving work in the cavern was continued at the end of February.
Significant progress is also being made at the Schwarzenbach access tunnel: tunnelling work began here at the beginning of February. The access tunnel will connect the surge tank and the shaft head cavern. From there, the raise-boring work will be carried out in summer 2025, in which a circular shaft will be bored from the bottom up along a pilot bore. This work is essential for the further construction phases and represents an important prerequisite for the planned infrastructure.
With these latest developments, the project is making great strides. Each completed construction phase brings the team closer to the overall goal, while continued precision and coordination are needed to reach the next milestones on schedule.
