Peter Kenyon, TunnelTalk

Herrenknecht is selected to supply the EPBM that will excavate the major section of the longest tunnel on the Wendlingen-Ulm high speed rail link in Germany.

TBM ready for Bossler Tunnel 06 Mar 2014

Peter Kenyon, TunnelTalk

The 11.34m diameter TBM that will excavate a twin running 6.3km heading of the longest tunnel on the high speed rail link between Wendlingen and Ulm in Germany is accepted by the contractor Porr of Austria.

Following an acceptance ceremony at the Herrenknecht factory on Tuesday (4 March) the machine will now be dismantled and transported to the jobsite.

Bossler Tunnel TBM at the Herrenknecht factory in Germany

Contractor Porr, which won a €635 million contract to excavate two twin running tunnels as part of the Stuttgart-21 Albaufsteig Contract PFA 2.2, told TunnelTalk it expects to take delivery of the machine later this year (2013).

NATM excavation of the twin 4.5km-long Steinbuhl Tunnel and NATM excavation of the first 2,500m of the 8.8km Bossler Tunnel commenced in March. The remaining 6,300m of twin tube alignment will be excavated by TBM.

The 60km high speed rail link between Wendlingen and Ulm includes 11 tunnels with a total length of 30.57km.

Earlier this month (August) Strabag subsidiary Ed Züblin and its JV partner Max Bögl were awarded the €250 million contract to excavate the 5.94km-long Albabsteig Tunnel as part of Contract PFA 2.4. A total of eight bidders made it to the final stage of the Deutsche Bahn tendering process.

Wendlingen-Ulm section has 11 tunnels

The twin bore tunnel is to be built using SCL with immediate support applied using sprayed concrete and reinforced steel. Following plastic membrane waterproofing, a load-bearing tunnel lining of in-situ concrete will be inserted. Construction is expected to take four-and-a-half years.

The Albabstieg Tunnel leads from the Swabian Jura to the tracks at Ulm Central Station. Construction planning and preparations are under way with the start of the tunnelling works planned for the spring of 2014. The tunnel, with a north portal in Dornstadt and a south portal in Ulm, comprises two single-track headings up to 70m in depth, connected with one another by 11 crosscuts spaced at intervals of 500m. The tunnel will overcome an elevation change of approximately 95m. Underground excavation for both bores will take place simultaneously from two starting points: downhill from Dornstadt to the south and from an intermediate access tunnel from which both bores will be driven uphill to the north and downhill to Ulm in the south.

Aerial view of Steinbuhl construction site

Contract PFA 2.1a/b for excavation of the second-longest tunnel along the high speed rail link, the 8.17km Albvorland Tunnel, is yet to be awarded, although final planning permissions have been awarded. Wayss & Freitag won a €37 million contract in December last year to excavate the 962m-long Widderstall Tunnel. Sample blasting on a section running parallel to the A8 highway began earlier this week.

Stuttgart-21 comprises a 57km stretch of new high speed rail around the German city of Stuttgart, which links with a new 60km stretch linking Wendlingen and Ulm. The improvements will see journey times between Stuttgart and Ulm cut from 54 to 28 minutes, and will also reduce longer-distance national and trans-European journeys on both east-west and north-south routes.

Almost half the 117km length is being tunnelled; a total of 21 tunnels of 500m or more. Additionally 38 bridges, 17 overpasses, three stations and one station conversion are to be carried out. The project is scheduled for completion in 2019.

*PFB (Final planning) on 2.1a/b granted August 2012
** Construction started March 2012
*** Project completed 2007

References

Major tunnel and station awards on Stuttgart-21 - TunnelTalk, March 2012
Stuttgart-21 tenders Bossler and Steinbuhl tunnels - TunnelTalk, November 2011

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