Schlueter tunnel

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Schlueter tunnel
Thistle lawn tunnel
Schlueter tunnel
New Schluechtern tunnel (second tunnel tube)
use Railway tunnel
traffic connection Kinzigtalbahn (double track)
place Ridge
length 3575 m
Number of tubes 2
construction
Client Prussian State Railway , DB ProjektBau
start of building 1909
completion 1914 (first tube), 2011 (second tube)
business
operator DB network
release May 1, 1914
map
Map Tunnels im Landücken.png
Tunnel in the land ridge: Schlüchtern tunnel (red) and land ridge tunnel (black)
location
Schluechtern tunnel (Hesse)
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Coordinates
North portal 50 ° 23 ′ 55 "  N , 9 ° 32 ′ 47"  E
South portal 50 ° 22 ′ 20 ″  N , 9 ° 31 ′ 3 ″  E

The Schlüchtern Tunnel (also known as the Distelrasen Tunnel ) is a railway tunnel on the Kinzig Valley Railway ( Frankfurt am Main - Fulda ). It passes under the Hessian thistle lawn , an extension of the ridge , between Flieden and Schlüchtern and therefore bears his name. With a length of 3575 m, the tube opened in 1914 is the second longest tunnel in the old network (excluding new lines ) of Deutsche Bahn .

On April 25, 2011, a second tunnel tube, the New Schlüchtern Tunnel, was put into operation. In February 2014, the old tunnel was put back into operation with one track, and the new tunnel was dismantled on one track by June 2014.

Only a few kilometers to the east, the Landrückentunnel of the high-speed line Hanover – Würzburg - at 10,779 m the longest tunnel in Germany - crosses the same low mountain range.

geography

The tunnel crosses the ridge over which the Rhine-Weser watershed runs on the so-called thistle lawn north of Schlüchtern . The A 66 runs roughly parallel to it , but the route does not require a tunnel.

history

When the Frankfurt-Bebra railway was built in the middle of the 19th century, the challenge arose of crossing the ridge. Since the construction of a four-kilometer tunnel was not yet possible at the time, the ridge was crossed with a hairpin that led into the Elm depot . The plant was put into operation in 1868. There the locomotive had the trains between Fulda and Hanau implemented are. At the sharp end of the bend, the connecting curve in the direction of Gemünden was connected in 1879 .

Due to this unsatisfactory operational situation and the sliding of a railway slope near Elm, in the spring of 1909, after 30 test bores, the tunnel was driven from both ends in order to shorten the route. Since dynamite was now available for driving tunnels, the construction project in the upcoming sandstone had been simplified.

The clay layers, about 280 meters long in the south and 150 meters in the north, were crossed by shield driving with iron rings four meters long and eleven meters in diameter. 800 workers were employed in 24-hour operation. At a cost of 9.5 million marks, the tunnel was completed on February 14, 1914.

The building had a walling that was based on strip foundations. The tunnel runs straight on the ground plan with a gradient of 1: 111 to the north and has a maximum overburden of 75 meters.

The Schlüchtern tunnel was put into operation on May 1, 1914. The original commissioning date in October 1912 could not be kept. For economic reasons, a track center distance of 3.50 m was created. The tunnel has a ventilation shaft.

After several decades of operation, the tunnel vault had become so porous that long icicles formed in winter when water penetrated. For the electrification of the Kinzig Valley Railway, which was completed in 1961, the vault had to be sealed for several months in order to avoid endangering electrical operation. The tunnel was rebuilt between October 1960 and September 1961. Since the regular minimum contact wire height in the old tunnel profile could not be established, a special permit was issued.

Around 260 passenger and freight trains run through the structure (as of 2007). This makes it one of the busiest railway tunnels in Germany.

In the old double-track tunnel, regular encounters between passenger and freight trains were to be ruled out. The now single-track two tubes can be driven at 160 km / h. The new tube was driven on in the two-track intermediate state at 120 km / h, the old tube could last be driven at 110 km / h.

Tunnel expansion

New Schlüchtern tunnel
New Schlüchtern tunnel
Construction site of a new thistle lawn tunnel. In the mountain on the right, the old tunnel, on the left, the upper edge of the new tunnel entrance
use Railway tunnel
traffic connection Kinzigtalbahn (single track)
place Ridge
length 3995 m
Number of tubes 1
Largest coverage up to approx. 70 m
construction
building-costs more than 200 million euros
start of building March 10, 2007
completion April 25, 2011
business
operator DB network
release April 25, 2011
location
Schluechtern tunnel (Hesse)
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Coordinates
North portal 50 ° 24 '3 "  N , 9 ° 32' 52"  E
South portal 50 ° 22 ′ 19 ″  N , 9 ° 30 ′ 59 ″  E

After the masonry of the existing tunnel was increasingly tired and required constant renovation, a thorough renovation of the tunnel was foreseeable. The plans for a new building began in the late 1980s. In mid-August 2005, DB Netz AG awarded a construction contract for the construction of a new parallel additional tube next to the old double-track tube.

When the contract was awarded, costs of 63 million euros were expected for the new building, which should be commissioned in 2008.

location

The new construction of the 3995 m long tunnel will be carried out in a western parallel position at a distance of 50 to 90 meters from the existing tunnel. The tunnel rises to the north-east portal with a longitudinal slope of 7 per thousand from around 280 m (south portal) to around 310 m (north portal). The route runs straight.

The new tube will be connected to the existing tunnel via seven cross passages. Originally, three cross passages of 61 m (at 79.173 kilometers of route), 74 m and 88 m in length were planned. The number of crosscuts was later increased to seven. They were made in an explosive and excavator drive.

The south portal of the new tube is at km 78.1735, the north portal at km 82.1685. In its course, the tube crosses under the Schlüchtern truck stop (km 79.710 to 80.240) as well as the federal motorway 66 and the former federal highway 40 (km 81.060 to 81.310).

The maximum overburden is around 70 m and is reached below the truck stop.

planning

Around 1987, consideration was given to extending a high-speed section between Fulda and Neuhof (around 15 km) beyond the Neuhof station through the new Schlüchtern tunnel by 8 km as part of the expansion of the Kinzig Valley Railway.

As part of the planning, an approximately 5.7 km long variant southeast of the existing tunnel and an approximately 3.6 km long northwest of the existing tunnel were considered.

Planning approval decision of July 31, 1998 (full text)

The EBA applied for the hearing procedure on September 9, 1994 ; the interpretation in the three municipalities concerned took place between October 24 and November 30, 1994. The hearing took place on September 21, 1995. As part of the discussion, the developer was ordered to investigate possible rail transport of the excavated mass as part of a supplement to the environmental impact study. In mid-1996 there was another, limited participation. A change in the line at the north portal and a modified landfill concept required a plan change procedure, which was requested in June 1996. Participation in this was initiated at the end of September 1997 and discussed on March 20, 1997. The planning approval decision was finally issued on July 31, 1998.

The resolution was changed on July 30, 2003 in accordance with the new tunnel guidelines of the Federal Railway Authority . These changes to the plan included the temporary double-track operation of the new tunnel, the renovation of the existing tunnel and its reopening as a single-track tunnel, the construction of rescue areas at both portals and other adaptation measures. This procedure was requested on March 2, 2001. The public hearing took place on September 24, 2002.

On May 6, 2008, Deutsche Bahn applied for a plan change, which was approved on August 25, 2008.

Thistle lawn tunnel, tunnel boring machine: view from behind of the excavation shield

The construction works were put out to tender in April 2005 and awarded in August 2005. The total costs were stated by Deutsche Bahn at the beginning of 2009 as more than 200 million euros. At the beginning of 2007, costs of 180 million euros were expected. The contract was awarded to the construction work group Neuer Schlüchterner Tunnel for an order value of around 66.6 million euros net. At the end of 2007 the planned costs were 190 million euros. In the meantime, the budget of more than 200 million euros (as of August 2010) has been clearly exceeded. The additional costs are due, among other things, to construction delays, building damage and the increased number of crosscuts from three to seven. The additional costs alone due to the delays and renovation after the break-in of the autobahn are estimated at a mid-double-digit million amount.

construction

First construction work began in November 2004. The entire project, including the renovation of the existing tube, should be completed in 2010. The planned length of the new tube was 4060 m. The estimated cost was around 160 million euros. In order to relieve the residents of the Schlüchtern region largely from construction site traffic, two provisional junctions were initially built on the A 66 .

The driving of the second tube began on March 30, 2007 and is carried out using a tunnel boring machine with a diameter of 10.24 m. When driving the tunnel and excavating its access roads, a total of 150,000 m³ of soil is moved and 330,000 m³ of rock are excavated. Christiane Rhiel, wife of the then Hessian Transport Minister Alois Rhiel, took over the sponsorship .

The breakthrough was expected when the tunneling began in April or May 2008. The machine sagged by 30 cm in the early advance phase. In order to avoid changes to the gradient in the final state, this section had to be renovated before the construction project was completed. After 2,965 m below the A 66 ( distance kilometers 81.165), the drive was interrupted at the end of February after the miners encountered unexpectedly high water resources. While a temporary influx of two liters of water per second was expected at this point, there was a continuous influx of four times that amount. Investigations revealed groundwater almost up to the top of the terrain. The groundwater level was lowered by 37 wells before excavation could be resumed. By pumping out groundwater between the tunnel and the motorway, a lane of the A 66 settled at the end of May 2008 , creating a hole in the road surface. Tunneling was resumed on November 3, 2008. The underpassing of the motorway for a length of 120 m took place after stabilization by lowering the groundwater and injecting concrete. The most critical section in front of the motorway was passed on November 20, 2008. The damaged motorway lane was restored in 2009.

At the beginning of December 2008 the tunneling was at 3,220 m, around 700 m still had to be driven. On March 3, 2009, the tunnel boring machine with the east portal reached the end of the drive. After the railway shell had been fitted out, train traffic should run through the new tube from November 2009. The old tube should then be closed, renovated and adapted to new safety regulations. According to the original planning, the two tubes were to be operated on a single track from 2011 and the remaining area should be used for escape routes. The entire project should be completed by 2013.

After micro- cracks appeared in the installed tubbings , the client and the construction company agreed on a renovation concept in mid-August 2010. Using special dowels, the tunnel is to be rehabilitated until it is operational.

In addition to the tunnel, there will be several hundred meter long connections to the route on both sides (each in an arched position) as well as four bridges.

Commissioning of the new tube and renovation of the old one

The new tube was to be put into operation from April 2, 2010 as part of a 68-hour full closure. The old tube should then be closed and completely renovated by 2012. Among other things, a new inner tunnel shell was to be installed. In a third construction phase, the new tube was then to be dismantled onto a track, thus creating an escape route and completing the three cross passages between the tubes.

Due to defects in the segments, Deutsche Bahn postponed the commissioning of the new tunnel in March 2010, initially for an indefinite period. The new tunnel was finally put into operation on April 25, 2011 as part of a shutdown on the Easter holidays 2011. The first ICE to pass through the tunnel, ICE 599 Berlin Ostbahnhof – Munich, got stuck after passing through because the fire alarm system had been triggered due to the dust raised in the tunnel . ICE 598 from the opposite direction stopped due to a power failure. The remaining traffic was largely diverted.

In February 2011, Deutsche Bahn announced the expansion of the existing tunnel. The contract to be awarded should run from July 2011 to March 2014. The contract was awarded in June 2011 and work started in autumn 2011. Commissioning was announced for February 2014.

In December 2013, the conversion of the new Schlüchterner tunnel to the single-track final state was awarded to a consortium for 8.7 million euros. Among other things, the double-track slab track is to be dismantled, a new, single-track slab track is to be built, a number of adaptation measures are to be carried out and construction roads to be removed.

On the weekend of February 21 to 24, 2014 the old tunnel with one track was put into operation. From February 28 to March 3, 2014, the new tunnel was separated from the route network for the conversion of the tube to single-track operation. During the renovation, which was completed on June 9, 2014, the train traffic was handled in track switching operation on the track of the old tunnel. On the night of August 24, 2014, a rescue drill took place in the tunnel with more than 600 people involved.

The existing tunnel was originally clad with brickwork, which stands in the shape of a horseshoe on the rock. As part of the renovation, the base was deepened and a base vault and a 40 cm thick concrete inner shell were installed. In addition, four connecting tunnels were created between the old and new Schlüchtern tunnel and the old tunnel was extended by 60 m to 3635 m using the cut-and-cover method. For the final stage, the tunnel was equipped with a single track slab track .

Construction engineering

The tunnel was lined with segments. Eight stones and a keystone form a ring with a wall thickness of around 45 cm. The outer diameter of the rings is 9.90 m, the inner diameter 9.00 m. The annular gap (17 cm) between the outside of the tunnel and the excavated cross-section (10.24 m diameter) was backfilled with around 5.5 m³ of mortar per linear meter.

The segments are produced in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz and transported by rail to a nearby loading station, where they are loaded onto trucks and transported to the construction site.

geology

About 35% of the length of the tunnel crosses layers of the Upper Buntsandstein , about 50% layers of the Middle Buntsandstein and about 15% Tertiary . In the area of ​​the south portal and in its northern half, the tunnel is below the groundwater.

See also

List of tunnels in Germany

Web links

Commons : Schlüchterner Tunnel  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The second longest tunnel gets a new tube. In: DB Welt , May 2007 edition, p. 10.
  2. ↑ a b c d New tunnel: maiden voyage by ICE to Munich ( memento from April 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ). In: Fulda newspaper . April 25, 2011.
  3. ↑ a b c DB Mobility Logistics AG (Ed.): Renewed old Schlüchtern tunnel will be put into operation at the weekend. Press release from February 20, 2014.
  4. ^ A b c State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.), Heinz Schomann (arrangement): Railway in Hesse. Part 2, Railway Buildings and Lines 1839–1939. (= Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany , cultural monuments in Hessen ) Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8062-1917-6 , volume 1, page 331.
  5. ↑ a b Report Second tunnel tube for the Schlüchtern tunnel. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , Issue 1/2005, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 4.
  6. ↑ a b Fritz Knickenberg: Extension of the "clear space" on the north-south route . In: The Federal Railroad . tape 35 , no. 22 , 1961, ISSN  0007-5876 , pp. 1060-1068 .
  7. ↑ Joachim Seyferth: The tunnel book (=  SCHIENE -Photo . Volume 6 ). 1st edition. Joachim Seyferth Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 3-926669-06-3 , p. 28 f .
  8. ^ Beginning of electrification of the north-south route . In: The Federal Railroad . tape 35 , no. 22 , 1961, ISSN  0007-5876 , pp. 1069-1072 .
  9. ↑ a b c d Start of construction for the railway tunnel on the ICE route Frankfurt – Fulda. Press release on pr-inside.com from March 30, 2007.
  10. ↑ a b DB Mobility Logistics AG (Ed.): Defects in the New Schlüchtern Tunnel can be eliminated by the beginning of 2011. Press release from August 13, 2010.
  11. ↑ a b c Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Hrsg.): Plan approval according to §§ 18 ff General Railway Act (AEG) for the replacement measure Schlüchtern Tunnel from rail km 76.8 + 88,497 to rail km 83.1 + 80.15 of the 3600 railway line, Frankfurt (Main) Hbf - Göttingen in the communities Schlüchtern, Flieden and Neuhof . File number 1023-P-FFM-1-0184-94. Frankfurt am Main July 31, 1998, p. 1, 25 f., 32, 34–37 ( PDF , 0.5 MB).
  12. ↑ Planning approval decision, p. 32, in connection with point 3.1 of the guideline “Requirements of fire and disaster control for the construction and operation of railway tunnels” of the Federal Railway Authority, valid from July 1, 1997.
  13. ^ A b c Deutsche Bahn AG: breakthrough at the new Schlüchtern tunnel. Press release from March 3, 2009.
  14. ↑ a b Report on the second Schlüchtern tunnel. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 11/2005, p. 502 f.
  15. ↑ a b c Notice of the Schlüchtern Tunnel. ( Memento from June 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Information on the website of the Federal Railway Authority.
  16. ↑ a b Schlüchtern tunnel: problems upon problems. ( Memento from August 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) In: Fuldaer Zeitung . 4th August 2010.
  17. ↑ Manfred Wölbing: The upgraded Fulda – Frankfurt (M) line - a component in the high-speed network of the year 2000 . In: Railway technical review . tape 36 , no. 7/8 , 1987, ISSN  0013-2845 , ZDB -ID 240040-6 , p. 483-493 .
  18. ↑ Guideline requirements of fire and disaster control for the construction and operation of railway tunnels. ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) as of November 1, 2001.
  19. ↑ Federal Railway Office (Ed.): Plan change according to § 76 (1) Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG) regarding adjustments to the tunnel rescue concept of the General Railway Act (AEG) according to §§ 18 ff. General Railway Act (AEG) on July 31, 1998 with Az .: 1023-P-FFM- 1-0184-94 established plan for the replacement measure Schlüchtern Tunnel from rail km 76.7 + 68,400 to rail km 83.1 + 80.15 of the railway line 3600, Frankfurt (Main) Hbf - Göttingen, in the communities Schlüchtern, Flieden and Neuhof . File number 55111-00-0037-n1. Frankfurt am Main July 30, 2003, p. 1, 11, 36, 37 ( PDF , 0.5 MB [PDF]).
  20. ↑ Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (Ed.): Plan change according to § 76 (3) Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG) regarding groundwater retention and additional safety measures when driving under the BAB A 66 as part of the construction of the new Schlüchterner tunnel in the municipality of Flieden according to §§ 18 ff. General Railway Act (AEG) with file number 1 023-P-FFM-1-0184-94 plan established on July 31, 1998 . File number 55111-08-0220. Frankfurt am Main August 25, 2008, p. 1, 16 ( PDF , 0.9 MB [PDF]).
  21. ↑ www.bickhardt-bau.de: References in railway construction. ( Memento from December 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  22. ^ Electrical operation at Deutsche Bahn in 2007. In: Elektro Bahnen , Volume 106 (2008), Issue 1–2, p. 8.
  23. ^ Message DB is building a new tunnel near Schlüchtern. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 4/2004, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 147.
  24. ^ Deutsche Bahn AG: construction of the Schlüchtern tunnel continued. Press release from November 4, 2008.
  25. ↑ a b Drill in the thistle lawn tunnel in operation again. ( Memento from December 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) In: Fuldaer Zeitung . December 7, 2008.
  26. ^ Schlüchtern tunnel: Getrac A3 slab track ( memento from July 10, 2020 in the Internet Archive ) In: Eurailpress , August 20, 2008
  27. ↑ The trains should be rolling at Easter ( Memento from January 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: Fulda newspaper . December 29, 2009.
  28. ^ Deutsche Bahn AG: Bahn postpones the opening of the New Schlüchtern Tunnel . Press release from March 10, 2010.
  29. ↑ Schlüchtern tunnel: opening stirs up dust. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . 2011, p. 262 ff.
  30. ^ D-Frankfurt am Main: Construction of railway tunnels. Document 2011 / S 24-038988 of February 4, 2011 in the electronic gazette of the European Union.
  31. ↑ krampeharex.com: Fiber concrete for traffic areas ( Memento from December 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  32. ↑ fahrweg.dbnetze.com: Commissioning for or in the 2014 network timetable ( Memento from December 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  33. ↑ Germany-Frankfurt am Main: permanent way work. Document 2013 / S 237-412732 of December 6, 2013 in the supplement to the Electronic Official Journal of the European Union .
  34. ^ Walter Dörr: "Catastrophe" at midnight . In: Gelnhäuser Tagblatt . August 25, 2014.
  35. ↑ http://www.dibit.at/projekte/tunnelbau/tunnelscanning/sanierung/ Dibit Messtechnik GmbH: Tunnelscanning Alter Schlüchterner Tunnel, Germany