Spotlight: Giants underground (January 2003)
HOCHTIEF sets new standards in tunneling
Every tunnel has its own specific character. In that respect, nothing has changed since tunneling
first began. For engineers and technical specialists, these somehow mysterious and always fascinating
structures deep underground or through mountains always represent a challenge. Despite all the
technological progress, a tunnel always means moving forward into the dark and unknown. For over 100 years now, HOCHTIEF has been setting standards in the world of tunnels.
The company has been involved in a considerable number of important tunnels all over the globe. What
began in 1896 with the building of a canal in old-town Frankfurt led gradually to high-tech tunnels
that have written construction history. Among the examples are the fourth tube of the Elbe Tunnel in
Hamburg, the Europipe under the mudflats of East Friesia, the Metro Tunnel in Lyon, France, and the
Mohale Tunnel in South Africa, part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, one of the biggest and most
complex construction ventures anywhere in the world.
And HOCHTIEF is still creating connections. Thanks to its international expertise and inter-unit
cooperation within the HOCHTIEF Group, it is helping to bring people closer together: with the Channel
Tunnel Rail Link under the Thames in London, with the Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland, which will be the
world’s longest rail tunnel, the Sophia Tunnel in Rotterdam and the Herren Tunnel in Lübeck.
Channel Tunnel Rail Link – HOCHTIEF connects Europe
40 kilometers south of London, the River Thames is being undercrossed by two parallel single-track
rail tunnels 2.5 kilometers in length. They form part of the first new rail route to be built in
the United Kingdom for more than a century. And HOCHTIEF is involved.
“The world underground is always fascinating but what is really exciting is working under water”, says
HOCHTIEF project manager Andreas Tauschinger. Three HOCHTIEF units are cooperating in the Channel Tunnel Rail
Link project – working hand in hand 45 meters under the Thames. And they are very successful: the hole-through
for the first tube took place two weeks ahead of schedule.
The first high-speed trains between the historic capital cities Paris and London will be able to use the tunnel
as early as 2004. This will bring Britain a lot closer to the European mainland – where three other tunnels are
currently also making headway. For example in Switzerland, where HOCHTIEF is helping to build the world’s longest rail tunnel.
Gotthard Tunnel – Safety first
Inside the Gotthard massif in Switzerland, there’s already a lot of traffic: up to 700 tunnel specialists are
at work, at temperatures of around 45 degrees Celsius. HOCHTIEF is helping to build the 57 kilometer long
twin tube tunnel between the cantons of Ticino and Uri, which on completion will be the longest rail tunnel
in the world. And that means confronting all the challenges which the hard Alpine rock imposes on man and machine.
The first thing the tunnel experts do is to ensure that everyone can keep a cool head, despite the 2000
meters of rock above them. Ventilation and other measures maintain the air temperature in the work areas
at a constant 28 degrees C. Together with its subsidiary Streif Baulogistik, the Group's construction
logistics arm, HOCHTIEF has helped to develop the communications concept for the radio intercom, the
telephones, the automatic access control system, the registration facilities and the control technology
for the building operations. In addition, Streif Baulogistik has provided parts of the site power system
and two emergency escape containers.
The safety demands made on rail tunnels are extremely high, for instance because highly explosive goods
are sometimes transported through them. But HOCHTIEF is totally familiar with all safety and security requirements,
just as it is with handling the very latest technologies – as a glance at the Sophia Tunnel project south of
Rotterdam in the Netherlands will show.
Sophia Tunnel Rotterdam
Sophia is steadfast...
... and doesn’t budge an inch. That’s not something to be taken for granted, since the soil under the four
kilometer long twin tubes of the Sophia Rail Tunnel consists of water-saturated layers of sand. That makes
the use of a conventional tunnel-boring machine problematic. In response to this challenge, HOCHTIEF is
employing a new kind of technology, a hydroshield TMB.
With this, excavation does not have to be halted for placement of the segments: boring and segment installation
can be carried out in parallel. The only drawback to this method, which is confined to use in soft ground, is
that the TMB is longer and heavier than usual. So keeping it exactly on course demands precision control.
The Sophia Tunnel is part of the 160 kilometer long Betuweroute, currently the biggest infrastructure project
in the Netherlands. From 2006, this rail link, which will initially extend all the way to the German border,
will provide perceptible relief for highways and ensure less congestion. And that also applies in Lübeck, where
HOCHTIEF is completing Germany’s first privately financed infrastructure project, the Herren Tunnel.
Herren Tunnel Lübeck – HOCHTIEF pioneers PPP in Germany
There’s no doubt about who plays the starring role in the spectacular structure being created in
downtown Lübeck in Northern Germany: Hilde, the 2,250 ton TMB. “She” is clearing the way for one of
Germany’s first privately financed infrastructure projects, being completed as a public-private partnership
(PPP). The director/producer is HOCHTIEF. And following the gala premiere in 2005, it will remain in charge,
to ensure that everything goes off smoothly – to the benefit of all concerned.
The Herren Tunnel will then replace the antiquated bascule bridge over the River Trave and make traveling
through Lübeck’s city center easier and faster. All without any strain on the municipal coffers. That’s because,
as a member of the project company, HOCHTIEF is not only responsible for building the tunnel but also for planning
and financing the project and will subsequently go on to operate the tunnel.
The German government has allocated 85 million euros, which is what it would have had to pay anyway for
a new bascule bridge. The rest of the money is being put up by the project company, which will recoup its
investment by means of tolls. After a concession period of 30 years, ownership of the Herren Tunnel will be
transferred to the City of Lübeck. In this way, HOCHTIEF is pioneering the type of project that can help to
fulfill the wishes of ordinary citizens even when public-sector budgets are already strained to the limit.
HOCHTIEF | Copyright 2007 HOCHTIEF
