Tunneling of the connecting branch between the Biryulyovskaya and Zamoskvoretskaya metro lines has begun in Moscow

Tunneling of the connecting branch has begun

In Moscow, tunneling has begun on the connecting branch between the Biryulyovskaya and Zamoskvoretskaya metro lines. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced this in the Max messenger, as reported by Gazeta.Ru. According to him, the Esmina tunnel boring machine will travel more than 565 meters and build a single-track tunnel from the assembly chamber near the Zamoskvoretskaya radius toward the ZIL station on the Biryulyovskaya line.

Working conditions

As Sobyanin noted, the work is being carried out in the Danilovsky district, in the floodplain of the Moskva River. The maximum depth will be 23.8 meters. The mayor emphasized that the work will proceed in difficult hydrogeological conditions: specialists will mostly have to work in fill soils, water-saturated sands of various grain sizes, and hard clays of the Oxfordian stage.

Context of metro development

In September, Sobyanin announced a decision to extend the Moscow metro to nearby cities of Moscow Oblast: the construction of the corresponding lines and stations has been named a key priority of the Moscow Metro Development Program for the period after 2030. It was also previously reported that the Serp i Molot urban railway station in Moscow had opened. The connecting branch between the Biryulyovskaya and Zamoskvoretskaya lines fits naturally into this picture of network expansion: it will link the new Biryulyovskaya line with the operating Zamoskvoretskaya line, which in the long term will affect the routes of passengers in the south of Moscow. Detailed timelines for completing the tunneling are not given in the publication.