Skip navigation

Herren Tunnel

The Herrenbrücke built in the form of a draw bridge crosses the Trave high sea shipping route in Lübeck. On account of its structural state, the Herrenbrücke was only serviceable to a certain extent and only at given times. In addition, when the bridge was opened to allow ships to pass several times a day the outcome was a gridlock on the access roads so that an efficient transport system could no longer be assured. As a consequence, the Hanseatic City of Lübeck planned the setting up of a permanent link crossing the Trave to replace the existing draw bridge. In 1997, bids were invited from throughout Europe to bring about a replacement solution with the objective of arriving at alternatives to the draw bridge. The submitting consortium Bilfinger Berger BOT GmbH and Hochtief Projektentwicklung GmbH came up with possible solutions in the form of a PPP model and was commissioned to undertake the construction, financing and operation of a shield tunnel and the related structures. The Herren Tunnel is roughly 1,040 m long, 780 m of which was driven by shield, 95 m by cut-and-cover and 165 m in the form of a trough. In addition, there was an open stretch of about 600 m. It consists of 2 separate drives, which were excavated using the shield tunnelling method. The clear distance amounts to 12.00 m. The tunnel runs roughly 9.00 m beneath the bed of the Trave. A Herrenknecht AG hydro-shield was used for excavation purposes. The excavated diameter amounted to 11.67 m. The hydro-shield was previously used to produce the Weser Tunnel (2 of the photos shown here are from that project). The shield tunnel internal diameter of 10.50 m resulted from the basic standard cross-section for the road of RQ26t with 2 lanes each 3.50 m wide, emergency footpaths and marginal strips, the related clearance profile of 4.50 m in height and the driving tolerance. The external diameter of the segmental lining was set at 11.50 m within the framework of the draft planning. Extensive, deep-lying brown coal sands form Lübeck's viable groundwater stratum. Above this groundwater stratum, ice-age sediments are to be found, which have also filled up hollows. During the Ice Age, these layers were re-shaped on a number of occasions by glaciers. This resulted in the Pleistocene comprising an irregular series of glacial marls, sedimentary silts and clays as inclusions in local belts of fine sand. This layer's thickness, which covers and thus protects the brown coal sands, fluctuates between 5.00 and 20.00 m. The upper geological covering layer is formed by meltwater sands, which vary between 2.00 and 19.00 m in thickness. A water zone consisting of free groundwater formed in these meltwater sands. The groundwater flows towards the Trave depending on which barriers are present in the subsurface.

 

  • Country: Germany
  • Region: Schleswig-Holstein
  • Tunnel utilization: Traffic
  • Type of utilization: Road tunnel
  • Client: Hanseatic City of Lübeck
  • Consulting Engineer: Herrentunnel Lübeck GmbH & Co. KG
  • Examination: Prof. Duddek und Partner GmbH
  • Construction Monitoring: Lahmeyer, Emch + Berger
  • Contractor: Bilfinger Berg er AG, Hochtief Construction AG
  • Main construction method: Trenchless
  • Type of excavation: Shield machine (SM)
  • Lining: Reinforced concrete segments
  • No. of tubes: 2
  • Tunnel total length: 2 x 1,040 m
  • Cross-section: 86.6 m²
  • Contract Volume: € 109.5 million
  • Construction start/end: 2001 to 2005
  • Opening: 2005