Käthchen, the tunnel boring machine (TBM), which the DB Projekt Stuttgart–Ulm GmbH is using to drive the Boßler Tunnel on the new Wendlingen–Ulm rail route, embarked on its second shield passage...
High mountains, long fjords and steep valleys. A demanding landscape and tough climate with abundant precipitation meaning infrastructure construction is a severe challenge in Norway, host of the World Tunnel Congress 2017 from June 9 to June 15 in Bergen. The especially demanding circumstances became all the more obvious as roads and railways started to replace the sea routes as the standard means of travel in Norway. The first Norwegian road tunnel was built in 1884. The great breakthrough for traffic tunnelling came with the construction of the Bergen Railway in 1909: 182 tunnels were constructed as part of this first rail connection between east and west of Norway. Today Norway has more than 1800 road and rail tunnels, whose total length is well over 1000 km.
The U5 project in Berlin is one of the most important ongoing infrastructural schemes in Europe for Implenia. On March 22, 2017 the final concrete wall separating the new U5 tunnel from the Brandenburg Gate Metro Station was penetrated. In this way, the gap between U55 (Central Station–Brandenburg Gate) and the traditional U5 (Alexanderplatz–Hönow) has been closed and the tunnel roughwork has been completed, which commenced with the start-up of the “Bärlinde” tunnel boring machine (TBM) back in 2013.
In Malaysia, tunnelling took on an important change in 2003 when there was an acute need to address major flooding issues in the city of Kuala Lumpur. With the city densely built up to the brims, the...
From May 30 to June 1, 2017, the Swiss Tunnelling Society (STS) is staging the 16th Swiss Tunnel Congress. As in previous years the first two days will take place in the Concert Hall at the Lucerne Culture and Convention Centre (KKL). The annual Tunnel Colloquium will be held there on Day 1. Day 2 is the main Congress-day which will be devoted to papers on national Swiss tunnelling and underground construction projects as well as international construction projects – many of which involve Swiss participation. The final day is reserved for an extensive excursion programme, which offers participants the choice of visiting no less than five different construction sites.
Swiss Railways (SBB) plan to provide a 4 m corridor along the entire Gotthard axis by 2020 in order to be able to transport semi-trailer (articulated) trucks with a height of 4 m by rail. The new building of the Bözberg Tunnel in the canton Aargau is the largest individual project with an investment sum of about 350 million Swiss francs. In addition to the existing two-track Bözberg Tunnel, a new two-track tunnel almost 2.7 km long is being built parallel to the existing tunnel. Drill and blast tunnelling started in autumn 2016. Working three shifts, a distance of 168 m has been conventionally excavated in soft ground. Drill and blast tunnelling started in autumn 2016. Working three shifts, a distance of 168 m has been conventionally excavated in soft ground. The main drive of the tunnel is planned from May 2017 with a TBM from Herrenknecht working from the installation area in Schinznach village at the south portal to the north portal in Effingen.
April 18th 2017 was the bid presentation deadline for the largest construction lot for the Brenner Base Tunnel, Pfons–Brenner. The construction lot includes the excavation of the main tunnels between Pfons and Brenner, about 9 km of exploratory tunnel and the emergency stop and the cross-over at St. Jodok. In total, about 50 km of tunnel will be driven. This lot was tendered at a European level according to the MEAT principle and on the basis of Austrian tender law (BVergG 2006, as amended in 2016). Five bids were tendered.
The article in tunnel issue 3/2017 offers interesting insights into the tunnel structures in the Alb foreland (Albvorland Tunnel, Kleine Wendlinger Kurve, goods train link) and the fundamental application of BIM (Building Information Modeling) method for the implementation of the complex tunnel project.
Machine Design
In the 1970s rectangular pipe jacking was developed and successfully applied for the first time in a Tokyo underground passage. After several years’ research and development,...
The line being newly built and upgraded between Karlsruhe and Basel is part of the European rail network from Rotterdam to Genoa. Running from the ports of the Netherlands to the Mediterranean, this...
