Escherberg tunnel

Escherberg tunnel
	North portal of the Escherberg tunnel
use	Railway tunnel
traffic connection	Hanover – Würzburg high-speed line (double-track)
place	Sorsum
length	3687 m
Number of tubes	1
cross-section	82-90 m²
business
operator	DB network
release	1991
location
Coordinates
North portal	52 ° 8 ′ 11 " N , 9 ° 52 ′ 7" E
South portal	52 ° 6 '16 " N , 9 ° 52' 49" E

Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

The Escherberg tunnel is a 3687 m long railway tunnel on the high-speed line from Hanover to Würzburg . The northern tunnel portal is at route kilometers 29.5 ( 52 ° 8 ′ 11 ″ N , 9 ° 52 ′ 6.7 ″ E ), the southern portal at km 33.2 ( 52 ° 6 ′ 15.6 ″ N , 9 ° 52 ′ 49 ″ E ). It crosses the Hildesheim forest east of the summit of the eponymous Escherberg (257 m) and is the northernmost tunnel on the route. 52.1364 9.86852852.104344 9.880272

Long-distance trains and (at night) freight trains run through the tube as scheduled. In the immediate vicinity of the north portal, the Hildesheim loop threads into the opposite track of the high-speed line. On the following switch connection within the tunnel behind the north portal, the trains coming from Berlin / Hildesheim switch from the opposite to the regular track.

course

The tunnel runs south. It leads the high-speed route from the northern foreland of the Hildesheim Forest into the Beustertal .

The gradient rises to the south along the entire length of the tunnel at 12.482 per mille. The route runs largely straight in the tunnel and turns into a slight left curve in the area of the south portal (towards Göttingen). The north portal is located at a height of 119 m above sea level. NN , the south portal at 179 m above sea level. NN . The maximum overburden is 95 m.

In the north the tunnel passes through layers of the lower and middle red sandstone , in the south in formations of the tertiary and quaternary almost the entire sequence of layers of the red sandstone is traversed.

There is an incision in front of the north portal on the Halsberg. To the south is an approximately 250 m long incision, which ends in the Beustertal and then merges into an approximately 800 m long dam, which is followed by another 500 m long incision. This in turn is followed by the Eichenberg tunnel .

The tunnel does not have any emergency exits. The maximum escape route length is 1844 m.

history

planning

The current route between Hanover and Kassel was decided in 1976 (so-called variant III ). In the years 1976 and 1977 a variant IV was discussed at times after geologists questioned the feasibility of variant III in the Hildesheim forest. At Sarstedt, this variant IV would have swiveled off the current route in a westerly direction and would have circumnavigated the Hildesheim forest parallel to the current route in an approximately four kilometer long tunnel between Nordstemmen in the north and Eddinghausen in the south, in order to then approach the realized route and this north from Sibbesse to reach. After exploratory bores in 1976 and 1977 had confirmed the feasibility of variant III, this variant was incorporated into spatial planning by the Federal Railroad in 1977.

The route III B , ultimately favored by the Deutsche Bundesbahn for technical reasons , was criticized by critics many times. The route cut up by the local government reform merged large communities , need three tunnels in the Hildesheim Forest, destroy agricultural land and bring the threatened communities hardest no use. Several groups, which joined together to form citizens' initiatives , are campaigning against this line.

Since the top of the Hildesheim forest could not be tunneled under, today's tunnel resulted with an increase of 12.5 per thousand, the maximum incline of the route.

The full length of the tube belonged to the plan approval section 1.4 (distance kilometers 30.025 upwards).

At the end of 1982, the building was planned to be 2906 m long. In addition to the threading of the Hildesheim loop, the two pairs of switches connected to the south of the track changeover (four switches) should also be located in a cut that was up to 30.0 kilometers deep and up to 27 m deep. The north portal of the tunnel should be at kilometer 30.3.

In 1984 a length of 2,906 m was planned. The tunnel, which begins at kilometer 29.5 today, also accommodates two points at the Sorsum junction.

construction

The northern 105 m of the tunnel were built using the cut-and-cover method. Towards the south, a further section of 561 m was made using the mining method, with a length of 253 m. The main part of the tunnel (2618 m) adjoins it in a southerly direction.

Driving began in a southerly direction in April 1985 from a launch pit at kilometer 30.4. First, two elm tunnels running ahead of the dome were created. This complex construction process was due to the softened and loosened mountains, which only allowed small partial eruptions. The calotte followed at a distance of around 30 m.

In May 1986 a descending advance from the south began. In this area, too, two elm tunnels sometimes had to be driven. The inner tunnel shell is 35 cm to 40 cm thick, in the area of the open construction up to 1.0 m can be achieved. The tunnel was hit on July 31, 1987.

The excavation work was completed in October 1987. The construction work should (as of January 1987) end in 1988. The construction cost was estimated at 140 million Deutschmarks (approx. 72 million euros ). A total of around 450,000 m³ of material was excavated, and a further 330,000 m³ were excavated for the preliminary cuts. In addition, 102,000 m³ of concrete and 5,600 t of steel were used.

South portal of the Escherberg tunnel in winter
The south portal of the Escherberg tunnel as seen from the Üst Diekholzen

Web links

Video: Entry of an ICE from Berlin into the north portal (Youtube)
Video: Exit of an ICE from Hanover / Berlin from the south portal (Youtube)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Deutsche Bundesbahn, Federal Railway Directorate Hanover, project group Hanover – Würzburg North of the railway construction center: Tunnel construction in the northern section of the new Hanover – Würzburg line. Brochure (22 pages), as of January 1987, p. 8.
^ ^A ^b DB project group Hanover-Würzburg (North) (Ed.): Hildesheimer Wald. Leporello (16 pages) as of March 1, 1984.
^ ^A ^b Helmut Weber, Walter Engels, Helmut Maak: The new Hanover – Würzburg line. In: Railway technical review . 28, No. 10, 1979, pp. 725-734.
^ Ernst Wagner: "Brokdorf" on the Federal Railroad? In: Kieler Nachrichten , August 1, 1977, p. 7.
^ ^A ^b DB project group Hanover-Würzburg (North) (ed.): New line Hanover-Würzburg: Sarstedt. Leporello (16 pages) as of October 1, 1982.
^ DB project group Hanover-Würzburg (North) (ed.): New line Hanover-Würzburg: Sorsum, Klein Escherde, Groß Escherde. Leporello (14 pages) as of December 1, 1982.
^ Deutsche Bundesbahn, project group Hanover – Würzburg North of the Federal Railway Directorate Hanover: The new Hanover – Würzburg line. The Hanover – Northeim section. Brochure (43 pages) from 1984, p. 35.
^ Medal Eschenbergertunnel Deutsche Bahn 1987. Archived from the original on January 21, 2017 ; accessed on January 21, 2017 .
^ Project group NBS Hanover of the Bahnbauzentrale, Bundesbahndirektion Hanover (ed.): Tunnel construction in the northern section of the new Hanover - Würzburg line . Brochure as of November 1987, p. 10.

[db-nord-1987-8-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Deutsche Bundesbahn, Federal Railway Directorate Hanover, project group Hanover – Würzburg North of the railway construction center: Tunnel construction in the northern section of the new Hanover – Würzburg line. Brochure (22 pages), as of January 1987, p. 8.

[nbs-1984-104-2] A ^b DB project group Hanover-Würzburg (North) (Ed.): Hildesheimer Wald. Leporello (16 pages) as of March 1, 1984.

[etr-10-725-3] A ^b Helmut Weber, Walter Engels, Helmut Maak: The new Hanover – Würzburg line. In: Railway technical review . 28, No. 10, 1979, pp. 725-734.

[kn-1977-08-01-4] Ernst Wagner: "Brokdorf" on the Federal Railroad? In: Kieler Nachrichten , August 1, 1977, p. 7.

[nbs-1.4-1982-5] A ^b DB project group Hanover-Würzburg (North) (ed.): New line Hanover-Würzburg: Sarstedt. Leporello (16 pages) as of October 1, 1982.

[nbs-1982-13-6] DB project group Hanover-Würzburg (North) (ed.): New line Hanover-Würzburg: Sorsum, Klein Escherde, Groß Escherde. Leporello (14 pages) as of December 1, 1982.

[bundesbahn-1984-35-7] Deutsche Bundesbahn, project group Hanover – Würzburg North of the Federal Railway Directorate Hanover: The new Hanover – Würzburg line. The Hanover – Northeim section. Brochure (43 pages) from 1984, p. 35.

[8] Medal Eschenbergertunnel Deutsche Bahn 1987. Archived from the original on January 21, 2017 ; accessed on January 21, 2017 .

[db-1987-11-10-9] Project group NBS Hanover of the Bahnbauzentrale, Bundesbahndirektion Hanover (ed.): Tunnel construction in the northern section of the new Hanover - Würzburg line . Brochure as of November 1987, p. 10.