False Tunnel Concreted in the Rodoanel Norte Project

After 56 uninterrupted hours of work, in an operation involving 111 people, 904 cubic meters of concrete transported in 113 trips with the support of 22 concrete mixer trucks, an important concreting phase of Tunnel 501 — known as the False Tunnel — was completed in the Rodoanel Norte project, carried out by the Cantareira Consortium.

After the conclusion of the underground excavations and portals, the tunnel is now moving into the final stages of treatment and finishing in the underground section. Once the structures are completed, a hydraulic embankment of over 179,000 cubic meters of rocky material will be built over it, with slope faces in rockfill format, designed to ensure the stability of the anchored retaining wall executed at the west portal face.

During the construction phases open-air excavation methods, slope containment, and careful fragmentation in the external area were adopted. For the underground section, the NATM excavation method was used to complete the portal on the outer lane, along with treatments using reinforced shotcrete lining and structural finishing. For the construction of the false tunnel structures, shoring and formwork systems composed of robust and voluminous structures were used, designed to withstand all construction loads.

All these activities were carried out in day and night shifts, reaching a current peak of approximately 490 workers directly involved in this section of the project.

“I feel very honored to be part of such an emblematic project in terms of criticality and complexity, where each construction phase requires special care. It is very rewarding to advance in this final stage despite the challenges, which demands great dedication from our highly technical team. I am proud to lead a team of experienced professionals who contribute greatly to my learning, professional, and personal development,” says Daniel Wanderley, Production Coordinator of the Cantareira Consortium.