Light Rail Duisburg, Lot TA 7/8 a, Tunnel Meiderich under river Ruhr

The Meiderich Ruhr Tunnel links the centre of Duisburg with its northern suburb of Meiderich. Over its route, the Ruhr and the port facilities, the Rhein-Herne Canal, the BAB A 42 motorway as well as the densely populated suburb of Meiderich are undercut. The construction measure embraces approx. 6,200 m of single-track tunnel tube with segmental lining, the urban railway stations - Auf dem Damm and Meiderich Süd -, a track switch-over unit and 3 emergency exits with mined links to the tunnel tube. The geology of the entire section is governed by quaternary and tertiary loose soils, the groundwater level is very strongly influenced by the Rhine and Ruhr and rises to the surface in the event of flooding. The tunnel route runs at varying depths with an overburden of from at least 4 to 25 m to the surface. Taking the special geological and urban planning marginal conditions into account, the tunnel heading was carried out in all sectors by means of a hydro-shield. The tunnel was secured using reinforced concrete segments (d = 35 cm, L = 1.50 m). The drive was accomplished in 6 part-headings, with the TBM having to be moved through an existing excavation on a number of occasions or dismantled following the completion of a section and transported via the surface back to the starting shaft for reassembly. All the headings were undertaken from the central starting shaft. The entire site logistics could in this way be set up along factory principles. The entire muck that was excavated was loaded on to ships in the port and was disposed of without causing any inconvenience to local residents or road traffic. A mass-spring system designed to reduce vibrations and the transference of structurally-borne noise from subsequent train services was installed on sections of track close to buildings.

Country: Germany
Region: Nordrhein-Westfalen
Tunnel utilization: Traffic
Type of utilization: Underground, urban and rapid transit
Client: Stadt Duisburg, Stadtbahnbauamt
Consulting Engineer: Ingenieurbüro Dietrich, Leonhardt und Partner, ELE- Erdbaulaboratorium Essen, IMM - Ingenieurbüro Maidl, Spiekermann GmbH & Co.
Contractor: Hochtief AG, Ed. Züblin AG, E. Heitkamp GmbH, Walter Bau AG
Main construction method: Trenchless
Type of excavation: Tunnel boring machine (TBM)
Lining: Reinforced concrete segments
No. of tubes: 2
Tunnel total length: 3644 m, 6211 m single-track tunnel, 577 m cut-and-cover excavation
Diameter: 5.62 / 6.58 m
Cross-section: 34.00 m² (excavation)
Contract Volume: 415 mill. DM
Construction start/end: 12/1992 till 9/1999; 11/1994 till 5/1998 (excavation)
Opening: 9/2000