16.05.2019
Ritom power plant

​Construction work for the complete renewal of the Ritom power plant in the canton of Tessin has started. The project includes the construction of a pressure tunnel, a new power station and an equalizing reservoir with a capacity of 100,000 m3. The renewal of the power plant, which was built in 1920, will last until spring 2022.

At the beginning of the year, the teams carried out the first blasting. They are currently working on the access tunnel to the cavern. The installation for the shaft head and the outside work is in progress and the material ropeway required for the construction work is under construction too. ​

The project

The two owners, SBB and AET (Azienda Elettrica Ticinese), are implementing the renovation project in a partnership. A new water intake in Lago Ritom (1,847 m) and a new 2,300 m long pressure tunnel in Piotta (1,001 m) will be used to produce electricity in the new above-ground power station. The water then flows through the new equalizing reservoir into the Ticino River. The new power station will also be a pump storage power plant that can pump the water from the compensating reservoir in Airolo up into the Lago Ritom.

​Pressure tunnel in three parts

The new pressure tunnel consists of three sections. The upper section with a length of 150 m and the lower section with a length of around 650 m will be constructed by drill and blast. The middle section, about 1,500 m long, will be excavated as an inclined tunnel with a completely redesigned gripper TBM with a diameter of 3.23 m.

work in progress

Our teams are currently working on the lower pressure tunnel, the preliminary cut of the water drives and the excavation of the equalizing reservoir. The specialists are preparing the conversion of the existing power plant so that the new frequency converter can be installed later on. At the same time, they are installing the conveyor belt system over the river Ticino and over the freeway A2 to the new train loading station in Piotta. In addition, the preparation and assembly work for the required new material ropeway from Altanca (1,315 m) to Piora (1,847 m) is going ahead.
 
Marti Tunnel AG
Seedorffeldstrasse 21
CH-3302 Moosseedorf
+41 31 388 75 10
tunnel@martiag.ch​​​​​

        

 

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