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Gevelsberg Tunnel

The Gevelsberg Tunnel is a part of the new L 666n, which as the southern detour is intended to relieve the centre of the town of Gevelsberg from through traffic. On account of the shallow overburden and the incorporation of the portal zones in the existing built-up areas, part of which are protected, 165m of the tunnel in the west and 90 m in the east had to be produced by cut-and-cover. The 305 m long central section of the tunnel that had to be produced by trenchless means, penetrates weathered to strongly weathered sand, lime and mudstone layers as well as sections of massive limestone formations. In the process, the maximum rock overburden amounts to approx. 17 m above the tunnel roof. The inner-urban location, the shallow overburdens and unfavourable rock properties represented challenges for tunnelling. The existing buildings had to be underpinned at the west portal to allow the cut-and-cover operations to proceed. Enhanced demands on an excavation pit producing minimum deformations were the keynote in the vicinity of protected buildings and factories with sensitive machinery. The section of tunnel to be produced by mining means was driven using an excavator and the NATM. Gentle blasting Operations were, however, undertaken to loosen the rock in the massive limestone section. Excavating the strongly weathered sand, lime and mudstone layers close to or beneath buildings that had to be undercut represented a particular challenge during the construction of the Gevelsberg Tunnel. Here it was necessary to divide the cross-section up into several sections for the drive - a staggered face, the installation of intermediate floors and the application of pipe umbrellas or multi-layered lance umbrellas as measures designed to minimise Settlements. Driving with less than a 3 m gap to the foundations of an old storehouse turned out to be tricky because massive limestone blocks with edge lengths of up to 4 m were included in the weathered and karst loam that was present. The standard cross-section of the permanent lining is roughly 11.50 m wide (open BW approx. 11 to 16 m) and some 9.50 m high (open BW approx. 8 m) and is provided with a pressure water retentive membrane sea l. The maximum water pressure height is attained at approx. 20 m above the tunnel floor in the case of the Gevelsberg Tunnel.

 

  • Country: Germany
  • Region: North Rhine Westphalia
  • Tunnel utilization: Traffic
  • Type of utilization: Road tunnel
  • Client: Land of North Rhine Westphalia
  • Consulting Engineer: IMM - Prof. Dr.-lng. B. MaidI- Dipl.-lng. R. MaidI, ELE Erdbaulaboratorium Essen
  • Test engineer: Prof. B. MaidI
  • Construction monitoring: Zerna, Köpper & Partner, Ingenieurgesellschaft für Bautechnik
  • Contractor: Baresel AG, Köster AG
  • Main construction method: Open/Trenchless
  • Type of excavation: Excavator/Drill-and-blast
  • Lining: Shotcrete
  • No. of tubes: 1
  • Tunnel total length: 540 m, 305 m driven by mining means
  • Cross-section: 90 m², 2 lanes (each 3.75 m wide including guiding strips)
  • Contract Volume: approx. € 20 million
  • Construction start/end: March 2003 to December 2006
  • Opening: late 2006