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Railway overbridge over the Schwetzingen southern bypass

The construction of the Südtangente in Schwetzingen meant that it was necessary to pass under the ICE railway link between Mannheim and Karlsruhe by means of a tunnel. In the process, 7 tracks had to be tunnelled under without affecting their functioning. In this connection, tenders were invited for jacking in the framework structure created at the side and the corresponding contract awarded. To begin with, the first block, which was 27 m in length with a cutting length of 8 m, was created in a watertight excavation. This block was then jacked beneath the tracks in round-the-clock shifts within a week without being covered by earth material - without interfering with scheduled train services. Merely the subsurface consisting of gravel and sand was required as the thrusting level below the tracks. Bentonite was placed to serve to reduce friction. Block 1 was parked below the tracks for roughly 6 months while Block 2, which was 27 m long, was created. By means of a jacking force of 42 MN provided by the main jacking station in the starting pit and a force of 56 MN from the intermediate jacking station between the blocks, it was possible to advance the tunnel to its intended final position within a week. After jacking was completed, the ramps for the Südtangente were made of in situ concrete.

 

  • Country: Germany
  • Region: Baden-Württemberg
  • Tunnel utilization: Traffic
  • Type of utilization: Road tunnel
  • Client: Stadt Schwetzingen
  • Consulting Engineer: Mailänder lngenieurconsult GmbH
  • Contractor: Ed. Züblin AG, Früh, Bilfinger + Berger Bau AG
  • Main construction method: Open
  • Type of excavation: Jacking
  • No. of tubes: 1
  • Tunnel total length: 54 m
  • Cross-section: 19 m x 8 m
  • Contract Volume: 8 mill. DM
  • Construction start/end: 12 months
  • Opening: 1996