Germany

Branich Tunnel – Aggregates assure Reaction Capacity at below-zero Temperatures

Since December 2011, construction work on the 1.8 km long Branich Tunnel has been forging ahead much to the delight of local residents of Schriesheim in Baden. 1,000 of the 1,800 m had been completed in late January 2013. The breakthrough will probably follow in June 2013. The tunnel is part of the “Schriesheim Bypass” project. The L536 is being upgraded over a length of 3.3 km. The Land of Baden-Württemberg represented by the administrative district of Karlsruhe is investing some € 85 million for the work to be carried out with around € 58 million accounted for by the Branich Tunnel.

The tunnel is being driven by trenchless means. In addition to the pure tunnelling activities, 5 emergency exits are being set up, which lead into 2 separate evacuation tunnels.

The construction work has gone down well with the population because a survey showed that the scheme would result in traffic in the old part of Schriesheim being reduced by almost 70 %. The obvious advantages for local residents in Schriesheim and outstanding cooperation with the responsible contractor Züblin, Stuttgart prompted the tunnel’s sponsor Brigit Ibach-Höfer at last year’s St. Barbara ceremony to speak of a familiar relationship between the citizens of the town and the construction workers on-site.

For preparing the concrete 390 kg CEM II 52.5 N Dyckerhoff, Amöneburg, shotcrete quality C 30/27 was used. The fresh concrete is delivered to the construction site by 3 different ready-mixed concrete plants (TB Kurpfalzbeton, TB Kühner and TB Leutershausen).

Hard frost prevailed particularly during the initial stages. Notwithstanding the products from the Gecedral® 100 range from Messrs. BK Giulini GmbH, Ludwigshafen/D assured the shotcrete’s reaction capacity even at these sub-zero temperatures. As a result the driving operations were able to progress quickly in spite of the inclement weather conditions; early strength class J 2 was attained without difficulty and safety during the excavation was assured all the time.

x

Related articles:

Issue 02/2016 Germany

Flexible Formwork System for the Branich Tunnel

In summer 2016, the 1796 m long single-bore Branich Tunnel is due to open as part of the bypass for the small German town of Schriesheim, north of Heidelberg on the Bergstraße. About 1600 m are...

more
Issue 08/2017 Austria

Conference: Shotcrete 2018

The 12th conference on shotcrete with parallel exhibition will take place at the Alpbach Congress Centrum in Tyrol, Austria, on January 11–12, 2018. Conference chair is Prof. Wolfgang Kusterle,...

more
Issue 04/2018

HeidelbergCement: Development and Application of reactive Shotcrete Cements

Introduction Tunnelling has a long tradition in Germany. High-speed transport routes with elongated alignments and flat gradients require an underground route. This applies the same for road and...

more
Issue 03/2010 Kanzlerlinie in Berlin Chancelor Line in Berlin

Planning and Building the Chancellor Line in Berlin/D

Untertiteltext Englisch

1 Introduction On August 8, 2009, the new Metro section between the Central Station and the Pariser Platz was opened by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (Fig. 1). This means that the first part-section...

more
Issue 03/2010 Chancelor Line in Berlin

Planning and Building the Chancellor Line in Berlin/D

1 Introduction On August 8, 2009, the new Metro section between the Central Station and the Pariser Platz was opened by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (Fig. 1). This means that the first part-section...

more