Since autumn 2014 loading potential tests with the new universal test rig have been performed regularly in the central construction laboratory (BZL)...
The newly built operations control centre Betriebsleitzentrale (BLZ) in the Canton of Graubünden will operate 24 hours a day for the safety of all national and cantonal roads and will also support the control centre of the canton police and fire service operations in case of incidents; it has two workplaces provided with the most modern equipment
The two shafts that will allow tunnelling to proceed towards Gloggnitz and Mürzzuschlag are now being built at Lot 2.1 of the Semmering Base Tunnel in Fröschnitzgraben, Austria. At the end of July Federal Minister Alois Stöger, State Governor Michael Schickhofer, State Councillor Karl Wilfing, CEO of ÖBB-Holding AG Christian Kern and, representing the construction consortium, the Head of Implenia’s Business Unit Infrastructure Rene Kotacka celebrated the start of work on the shafts with invited guests.
On July 10th 2015, the European Parliament confirmed the European Commission‘s 13 billion euros CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) infrastructure investment plan. 1.18 billion euros of these funds are earmarked for the Brenner Base Tunnel, which is thereby the most heavily funded infrastructure project in Europe
Crossrail’s final tunnelling machine, Victoria, is being dismantled 40 m below Farringdon in central London following the completion of Crossrail tunnelling.
An important phase has been completed in the construction of the approximately 2 km long, two-track Rosshäusern Tunnel on the line from Berne to Neuchâtel. After the decision to change the method of construction, the last blast took place in the upper half of the tunnel (top heading) 181 m west of the tunnel middle at the start of June 2015.
After more than a year of tunnelling, the second bore of the 8320 m long Gleinalm Tunnel, the third longest road tunnel in Austria, was broken through in the middle of 2015. After the planned completion of lining work in autumn 2016, the east bore should be opened for traffic in 2017.
The construction of a gas pipeline passing through a coastal nature conservation area was essential to exploit a gas field in the Atlantic. The gas is then processed in a facility on the Irish north-west coast. It was decided to thread the pipeline through the specially devised Corrib Tunnel so that the nature reserve could be underpassed without harming the environment. The tunnel was completed along with the operational gas pipeline in early 2015.
Heat in the ground can be exploited by energetically activating structures in contact with the ground, e.g. tunnels. In the course of the upgrading of the railway route from Munich to Verona, a part of a tunnel in the area of Jenbach in the Tyrol has been thermally activated in order to supply geothermal energy to the nearby utility centre.
Seen from the fire service’s point of view, the risks in tunnels mainly result from the
necessary penetration depth. The expected heat load affecting fire services on the other hand is of a secondary nature. Consequently, the chances for successful deployment are largely determined by the distance between the emergency exits.
Centralized tunnel monitoring heralds new challenges for the operating staff in the control rooms. Ongoing further development of the data acquisition and control systems installed in the tunnels leads to the amount of data received in control rooms and handled by the operators piling up. Tailor-made visualization of data by the control systems for the task in hand is an important prerequisite for dealing effectively and efficiently with a large number of monitored tunnels.
Shotcrete has developed from an auxiliary building agent to an efficient construction material. This is due to intensive development of the starting...
