Pfänder tunnel
| Pfänder tunnel | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 North portal of the Pfänder tunnel (entry from Germany)
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| use | Motorway tunnel | |||
| traffic connection | Rheintal / Walgau Autobahn (A14) | |||
| place |
Bregenz , Austria Lochau , Austria |
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| length | 6,718 m (east tube) 6,586 m (west tube) |
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| vehicles per day | ø 39,195 (2017) | |||
| Number of tubes | 2 | |||
| Largest coverage | 370 m | |||
| construction | ||||
| Client | Republic of Austria | |||
| building-costs | 1st tube: ATS 1.4 billion (1980; EUR 262 million adjusted for inflation) 2nd tube: EUR 205 million |
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| start of building | 1974 (east tube) 2006 (west tube) |
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| completion | 1980 (east tube) 2012 (west tube) |
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| business | ||||
| operator | ASFINAG | |||
| toll | No vignette requirement for cars and motorcycles since December 15, 2019 | |||
| release | December 10, 1980 (east tube) June 26, 2012 (west tube) July 3, 2013 (two-tube operation) |
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| closure | 2012–2013 (east tube for renovation) | |||
| location | ||||
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| Coordinates | ||||
| Bregenz-Weidach | 47 ° 29 ′ 17 " N , 9 ° 44 ′ 46" E | |||
| Lochau | 47 ° 32 ′ 21 ″ N , 9 ° 45 ′ 25 ″ E | |||
Map with all coordinates: The Pfänder tunnel is a motorway tunnel on the Austrian Rheintal / Walgau motorway A 14 and serves as a bypass of the Vorarlberg state capital Bregenz .
The tunnel crosses under the 1,064 m high Pfänder and forms the essential connecting piece between the Austrian A 14 and the German A 96 .
history
In 1973, after several years of preparatory work, the planning of the Pfänder tunnel began. Already in the following year the construction of the alignment tunnel was put out to tender , which was posted in Bregenz on September 27th and driven through on December 4th, 1975. The full excavation of the tunnel began in autumn 1976. At the same time, access roads from the state border and up to the Dornbirn-Nord junction were built. The tunnel, which was finally 6,718 meters long, was opened to traffic on December 10, 1980. For cost reasons, it was initially only partially built (single-tube) and at the time it was opened to traffic, it had no connection to the state capital itself. Bregenz itself was only connected directly to the motorway four years later, in 1984, with the opening of the Citytunnel feeder .
Planning for the construction of a second tunnel tube for the Pfänder tunnel could only be started after the traffic concept of the state of Vorarlberg had been changed in 2001, which had previously provided a porter function for the Pfänder tunnel. Since its opening to traffic of Ambergtunnel -Oströhre in 2003, he was the only part of the A14 with only one of carriageway in both directions. In 2009, an average of 28,396 vehicles a day passed through the tunnel. This made the Pfänder tunnel the most heavily used single-tube overland tunnel in Austria before the second tube was opened.
Expansion of the second tunnel tube
The groundbreaking for the second tunnel took place on April 28, 2006 with the construction of a bridge at the south portal, which was completed in January 2007. After a change in the tender (approval of an offer for construction with a tunnel boring machine ), the start of construction of the tunnel itself was delayed from September 2006 to November 2007. On September 8, 2008, machine driving for the construction of the west tube using a tunnel boring machine began. The machine tunneling for the construction of the second pawning tube was supposed to take around eleven months, but after delays due to rock problems, the breakthrough was after fourteen months on November 4, 2009. The around 200-ton boring head with a diameter of almost 12 meters was involved drilled an average of 20 meters per day through the mountain. The cross connections between the two tunnel tubes and the connections to the ventilation shafts were excavated using conventional blasting. Around 23 months were set aside for the entire advance. This was followed by the expansion of the inner shell, the concrete roadway and the installation of the electrical machinery (ventilation, lighting, tunnel radio).
The second tube of the Pfänder tunnel was opened to traffic on June 26, 2012, then the existing tube was completely refurbished for a year and upgraded to the latest technology. The costs for the full expansion including the general renovation of the existing tunnel were around 205 million euros. After a year-long general renovation of the old tunnel, the tunnel was opened to traffic in the night of July 3rd to 4th, 2013, with two lanes each.
A special feature arose during the construction work with regard to the mandatory vignette on Austrian motorways and expressways: From September 1, 2008 until the opening of the second tunnel tube on July 3, 2013, the A14 was allowed to travel around 23 km from the German border, including the Pfänder tunnel and the bypass Bregenz, in addition to the normal motorway vignette (valid for 10 days, 2 months or 1 year), you can also drive with a cheaper 24-hour corridor vignette. After that, from July 4, 2013, drivers had to buy at least the 10-day vignette again on their way to Switzerland, as the corridor vignette was abolished when the second tunnel tube was released. With a resolution of the Austrian National Council , the stretch of the A14 motorway between Hörbranz and Hohenems, and thus also the Pfänder tunnel, was exempted from the vignette requirement for cars and motorcycles that otherwise apply in Austria. The Pfänder Tunnel has therefore been toll-free since December 15, 2019.
Traffic volume development since 2008
On average, the tunnel or tunnels passed through each day:
| year | Cars <3.5t | Cars> 3.5t | Total vehicles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 24,381 | 3,542 | 27,923 |
| 2009 | 25,029 | 3,371 | 28,400 |
| 2010 | 23,847 | 3,626 | 27,473 |
| 2011 | 25,215 | 3,630 | 28,844 |
| 2012 | 25,476 | 3,532 | 29,008 |
| 2013 | No data | ||
| 2014 | 30.103 | 3,637 | 33,740 |
| 2015 | 32,414 | 3,617 | 36,031 |
| 2016 | 34,152 | 3,836 | 38.020 |
| 2017 | 35,314 | 3,880 | 39.195 |
(Source: ASFINAG permanent counting stations)
Boring head of the tunnel boring machine for the 2nd tube before starting
Head of the tunnel boring machine in the Pfänder
South portal of the Pfänder Tunnel with Weidach knot in April 2014
A14 Rheintalautobahn seen from Gebhardsberg
Pfänder tunnel ventilation shaft in the municipality of Lochau
Safety devices
The following safety devices are available in the tunnel :
- 54 fire extinguishing niches ( fire extinguishers and hydrants ): every 106 m
- 40 emergency niches ( emergency telephones and fire extinguishers): every 212 m
- 7 breakdown bays : every 848 meters
- Concrete pavement as (non-combustible) road surface
- Emergency and escape route marking
- Bright reflective tunnel wall coating (up to 4.5 m high) - entrance, drive-through and emergency lighting
- Tunnel radio system for traffic radio , emergency services and operations
There are two portal fire brigades for the Pfänder tunnel, each equipped with three special tunnel vehicles. This is on the one hand the Lochau volunteer fire brigade with an RLFA-T, LFBA-T and TLFA-T and on the other hand the Bregenz Rieden fire brigade with an RLFA-T, LFBA-T, TLFA-T with the LUF60. All of these vehicles are each equipped with three long-term breathing apparatus , hydraulic rescue equipment and thermal imaging cameras.
The fire extinguishing niches at the breakdown bays also have hose reel systems that enable laymen to use the extinguishing pistols. There are a total of 15 crosscuts every 394 to 448 meters, which enable escape into the unaffected tunnel in an emergency. One of them can be driven on with EU articulated lorries, six more with emergency vehicles. The tunnel is ventilated via full cross ventilation : there are separate ducts for supply and exhaust air above a false ceiling. They are fed via two vertical shafts. On both sides of the road there are raised shoulder strips with a width of one meter, with self-illuminating LED guiding devices on the edge .
International tunnel test
In 2015, the Pfänder tunnel received the top rating of “very good” in the international tunnel test by ÖAMTC and ADAC .
literature
- Jürgen Steinhauser: Pfänder Tunnel 2nd tube , in: Zement + Beton , March 2012 edition.
- DI Herbert Gehrer: The expansion of Vorarlberg's roads for motorized traffic from the 1930s to 1983. Office of the Vorarlberg State Government, Bregenz 1986.
Web links
Pictures of the construction of the Pfänder tunnel in the repository of the Vorarlberg State Library.
Individual evidence
- ↑ ASFINAG: More safety and fewer traffic jams with both tubes of the Pfänder tunnel open to traffic. In: APA-OTS . ASFINAG , June 30, 2013, accessed on June 17, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Pfänder tunnel on the A14 near Bregenz opened 30 years ago. Austria.com, accessed on July 3, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Toll exemption in force. In: vorarlberg.ORF.at . December 15, 2019, accessed December 15, 2019 .
- ^ Puncture at the second Pfänder tunnel tube . ORF Vorarlberg, article from November 13, 2009
- ↑ Pfänder tunnel near Bregenz in full operation: Second tube open July 3, 2013 at www.vol.at, accessed on February 24, 2014
- ↑ Toll information from the Autobahn and Schnellstraßen-Finanz-Aktiengesellschaft , accessed on February 24, 2014.
- ^ Augsburger Allgemeine: Pfänder tunnel four-lane: more expensive to drive through Austria
- ↑ ASFINAG permanent counting stations
- ↑ Bregenz-Rieden volunteer fire department
- ↑ Lochau volunteer fire department
- ↑ Tunnel equipment ( Memento of the original from December 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Top marks for the Pfänder tunnel in the tunnel test. In: ORF. July 29, 2015, accessed January 16, 2017 . }
