Koenigsdorf tunnel
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Koenigsdorf tunnel Horrific tunnel
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 Railcar drives out of the Königsdorf tunnel (1950)
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| use | Railway tunnel (removed) | |||
| traffic connection | Cologne – Aachen railway line | |||
| place | Frechen-Koenigsdorf | |||
| length | 1623 m | |||
| Number of tubes | 1 | |||
| Largest coverage | 35 m | |||
| construction | ||||
| start of building | 1837 | |||
| completion | 1841 | |||
| business | ||||
| release | September 1, 1841 | |||
| closure | 1954 | |||
| location | ||||
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| Coordinates | ||||
| Location of the former east portal | 50 ° 56 ′ 0 ″ N , 6 ° 45 ′ 44 ″ E | |||
| Location of the former west portal | 50 ° 55 ′ 35 " N , 6 ° 44 ′ 30" E | |||
Map with all coordinates: The Königsdorfer Tunnel or Horremer Tunnel was a 1623 m long railway tunnel on the main line of the Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft . It was located between Königsdorf and Horrem on what is now the Cologne – Aachen railway line, under the ridge of the Ville . The tunnel had a maximum overburden of 35 m. At the time of its construction, it was the longest railway tunnel in Europe. In August 1954, the excavation of the tunnel began, which was completed in December 1955. The trains now run through an approximately 30 m deep and dead straight incision that marks the location of the former tunnel.
construction
The Königsdorf tunnel was built from 1837 to 1841 using the core construction method . Initially, two smaller, separate floor tunnels were built as space for the abutments on the later sides of the tunnel and only connected by individual cross tunnels , while a core was left in the middle of the tunnel. The extensions towards the center of the tunnel were based on this massive earth core. The core was cleared only after the construction was completed. The successful application of the core construction method on the Königsdorf tunnel helped the latter to achieve a breakthrough; later it was also known as the German tunneling method.
The Königsdorf tunnel consisted of three brick rings that were not nested inside one another. The bricks were made by the Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft itself. In order to speed up the construction of the tunnel, shafts were built on the surface which, after the tunnel was completed, discharged the exhaust gases from the steam locomotives . For this purpose, 35 meter high chimneys with a diameter of two meters were installed over the shafts .
Up to 2000 workers were employed in the construction of the Königsdorf tunnel, who had to do all the laborious manual labor. The tunnel was commissioned on September 1, 1841, this date also marking the completion of the entire route.
cancellation
In 1954 and 1955 the Königsdorf tunnel was demolished. Previously aggressive mountain water and had exhaust of steam locomotives the masonry damaged the tunnel. In 1932 repairs were made using Torkret ; The renovation of the tunnel began in 1937. It was never ended because of the Second World War. However, in order to straighten the tunnel, which was not exactly straight, the vault masonry was pointed, which greatly reduced the stability in the following years.
In February 1954, after a frosty winter, parts of the masonry burst off and protruded into the clearance profile . Since this process continued, the Federal Railroad had a third track installed in the middle of the tunnel, which was connected to the ends of the tunnel via preassembled switches. In the event of immediate danger, switch to single-track operation and the space gained on the sides should be used to erect supporting scaffolding . In order to maintain the capacity of the railway line, double-track operation was initially maintained with a speed limit of 30 km / h. From March 22nd, the maximum speed allowed was 10 km / h. The result was train delays and diversions via the Rheydt – Cologne-Ehrenfeld railway line or the Eifel line and the Bördebahn .
Since the electrification of the Cologne – Aachen railway line was in the planning stage, a widening of the clearance profile would have been necessary if the tunnel had been renovated. Because of this effort, it turned out to be cheaper to remove the tunnel. Work began on August 6, 1954 on the east portal of the tunnel. Soil was removed on three levels with bucket chain excavators and loaded onto a conveyor belt running along the tunnel with transfer belts installed across the track . This belt road led to the nearby Fischbach mine of the Horremer briquette factory , where there was a hole to be filled. A total of four million cubic meters of earth was removed. During the dismantling work , trains continued to run through the remaining tunnel, which was protected against falling parts by scaffolding. On December 16, 1955, the demolition of the Königsdorf tunnel was completed. Of the tunnel as a ground monument , only part of the eastern portal has been left standing, which, however, cannot be seen from the route due to the wild growth at this point.
The Horremer Bridge was built over the resulting incision for the north-south railway , which serves the Rheinbraun energy producer (now RWE Power ) as a supply railway between power stations, opencast mines and processing plants. Construction of the bridge began before the Königsdorf tunnel was demolished.
The initially double-track line within the cut was expanded to four tracks in 2002. For this purpose sheet piling was attached to the sides of the railway line.
literature
- Hans Schweers, Henning Wall: Railways around Aachen. 150 years of the international route Cologne - Aachen - Antwerp , Schweers + Wall, Aachen 1993, ISBN 3-921679-91-5 , pp. 160–162.
