On 22 April 2006, the parts of the tunneling machine "Tosca", which will drill
the eastern tube of the new underground line, were lifted into the starting pit
at the station Bonner Wall. This is the center shield (Mittelschuß), the
heaviest part with a weight of 176 t. The front end (right) will be attached to
the front shield (Schneidenschuß) containing the cutting wheel, while at
the rear end the visible thrust cylinders will be surrounded by the tailskin
(Schildschwanz) later. When this part was delivered by a low-loading truck, it
was placed on the yellow supports on the left with the thrust cylinders
pointing upwards. In the picture a 500 t truck-mounted crane (left) and a 800 t
lattice girder crane (right) are working together to rotate it, later the 800 t
crane will lift it into the pit.
<p>
Digital photo by
<a href="http://www-users.rwth-aachen.de/christoph.schmitz2/index.html">Christoph
Schmitz</a>
(<a href="mailto:christoph.schmitz2@post.rwth-aachen.de">christoph.schmitz2@post.rwth-aachen.de</a>)