The tradition is to name tunnel boring machines (TBM) with female names. Today the President of Warsaw named the first TBM, which will be driven into the tunnel at Daszyński roundabout, after the Nobel Prize winner, Maria Skłodowska-Curie.
There will be 15 men working inside the TBM. They will spend months or even years underground. The Host of the ceremony, a contract manager, Francesco Scaglione, said that: “TBM becomes a wife, a friend, or a lover for them. The shields are like women – beautiful but whimsical.”
Traditionally, the name for a machine is chosen by a contract manager. It was suggested that he should chose the name after one of the women working at the construction site, but Francesco Scaglione concluded: “they are more than three and all of them are so beautiful that it would be difficult.”
The first TMB will be named after Maria Skłodowska-Curie. The idea came a few months ago when Francesco Scaglione arrived in Warsaw and saw a poster promoting her year. He justified the choice: “The name, Maria, is the same in Italy and Poland. Poles can be proud of Maria.”
The second TBM will be named after the princess Anna Mazowiecka – the last representative of the Piasts of Mazovia dynasty. The contract manager initially thought about Bona, but because he always tries to learn about the history of the country where he manages construction, he finally chose the name referring to Warsaw.
The last shield will have the name also related to a royal “dynasty” although in a different sense. Wisła (Vistula) is the queen of Polish rivers and that will be the name of the third TBM. Francesco Scaglione commented the choice: “The tunnel of the II Underground Line will go under Wisła River. Wisła also joins great and beautiful Polish cities.”
Published 21 September 2011
Last modified 3 June 2019
