The tunnel boring machine (TBM) driving the Filder Tunnel as part of the Stuttgart 21 infrastructure project has completed its first drive in the middle of November 2015. The Filder Tunnel (PfA 1.2) has a length of 9.5 km and links the main station of Stuttgart in the valley to the Filder Plain, which is about 155 m higher. Construction is executed by the ATCOST 21 consortium under the technical lead of Porr Bau GmbH.
The first of two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) for the Rastatt Tunnel by manufacturer Herrenknecht was approved by the customer, the Tunnel Rastatt JV, on December 8, 2015 at the factory in Schwanau. The two mix-shields will each tackle a bore of the twin-tube tunnel completing them in carcass state. The rail tunnel is part of the new/upgraded Karlsruhe–Basle rail link.
Since early October 2015, the test operation phase in the Gotthard Base Tunnel has been in full swing. Numerous test runs have already been performed. Until May 31, 2016, around 5000 test runs are planned, with trains speeding at up to 275 kilometres per hour through the world’s longest rail tunnel.
The 5425 m long Bosruck Tunnel between the states of Upper Austria and Styria has been in operation since 1983, and traffic has been running through a new second bore since summer 2013. After thorough refurbishment of the original bore, the fully improved twin-bore tunnel was opened for traffic on 19 October 2015. The Austrian autobahn operator ASFINAG has invested 280 million euros in the upgrading and modernisation of the tunnel.
The rail route between Hanau and Nantenbach is part of the 112 km long Main-Spessart Railway between Hanau and Würzburg. It passes through the Schwarzkopf Tunnel built in 1854 and in urgent need of repair. Rather than this renovation scheme, a new route between Laufach and Heigenbrücken was decided on to eliminate the Schwarzkopf Tunnel. This project entails a roughly 8 km long, twin-track upgraded route running from Hanau to Nantenbach.
As in previous years, the STUVA also undertook a survey of current tunnelling projects in Germany at the turn of the year 2014/2015. The outcome is compiled in tabular form for the month of December 2014 and subsequently assessed. The table follows up its predecessors published for the years 1978 to 2014.
Driving operations for the Crossrail tunnel sections with a total length of 42 km were successfully concluded in London in June 2015. Eight tunnel boring machines (TBMs) were used over a period of more than three years. Activities are now focused on furnishing the running tunnels and completing the stations. The report in tunnel issue 8/2015 provides an insight into the western TBM tunnel section (C300), building the Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road underground stations (C410) as well as Farringdon Station (C435). It follows on from the article published in tunnel issue 2/2013.
What preconditions have to be provided to enable good coordination between tunnel operators and emergency services in case of an incident? This question occupied the 4th Commanders Forum at the International Fire Academy in Balsthal, Switzerland.
A number of road tunnels in Europe no longer comply with current safety requirements. Substantial impacts on the overall infrastructure resulting from tunnel closure due to construction are inevitable in many cases owing to the refurbishment measures that have become necessary. The report in tunnel issue 8/2015 examines the possibility of upgrading tunnels by installing an active fire-fighting system devised to reduce such closures. In this connection, the analysis not only considers the installation costs for structural and technical measures but as well compares the economic effects of different refurbishment concepts in a holistic appraisal.
For the fourth time now, the European Rock Mechanics Symposium (Eurock) of the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISFRM) was held in Salzburg. Eurock 2015 took place together with the 64th Geomechanics Colloquium of the Austrian Society for Geomechanics (ÖGG) from 7 to 10 October 2015.
After a number of tunnel fires with serious consequences around the turn of the millennium, the EU tunnel directive of 2004 and the German guidelines...
