Skip to main content

Karlsruhe’s new road tunnel project

Construction will commence in April 2017 on a new road tunnel link in Karlsruhe. Austrian contractor STRABAG has an 84% stake in the consortium, which also includes Schleith, building the link. Civil design is being handled by Ed Züblin meanwhile. The new Kriegsstraße vehicle tunnel in Karlsruhe will carry two lanes of road traffic underground, while providing a surface connection for trams, pedestrians and cyclists. The tunnel construction forms part of the wider Kombilösung public transport infrastructure
December 13, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Construction will commence in April 2017 on a new road tunnel link in Karlsruhe. Austrian contractor 945 STRABAG has an 84% stake in the consortium, which also includes Schleith, building the link. Civil design is being handled by Ed Züblin meanwhile. The new Kriegsstraße vehicle tunnel in Karlsruhe will carry two lanes of road traffic underground, while providing a surface connection for trams, pedestrians and cyclists. The tunnel construction forms part of the wider Kombilösung public transport infrastructure project for Karlsruhe that is intended to help cut congestion. Construction of the new tunnel begin in April 2017, while its completion is scheduled for mid-2021. The tunnel will reroute the through-traffic on Kriegsstraße underground for a distance of 1.6km between Mendelssohnplatz and Karlstor. The tunnel will be built using a cut-and-cover process and will feature a rectangular reinforced concrete frame. The Züblin-led consortium will excavate a 9m deep concrete trench, which will then be roofed over allowing the tram tracks and cycling and pedestrian facilities to be installed on the surface. The work is being divided into nine sections that will be cut, concreted and covered from the top. The close proximity of buildings and the city’s high groundwater levels will ensure that the waterproofing and retaining wall design will be challenging however.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Doha’s massive ring road expressway project
    July 10, 2019
    The huge Doha ring road project will help decongest the city and improve transport for Qatar
  • Simex machine helps deliver new tunnel lining
    December 1, 2014
    In Italy an MP1000 cutting system from Simex has been used to help resurface the walls of a highway tunnel. The SS51 State Road crosses through the Dolomites in the north-eastern Alpine Region of Italy. The SS51 starts in San Vendemiano in the province of Treviso and ends in Dobbiaco in the province of Bolzano and is a key road because it connects Cadore and the main towns in the area of Cortina d'Ampezzo. This 134.4 km road has expansion work and upgrades to improve safety and boost capacity. One the mo
  • Turkey’s new Marmara Highway project
    June 8, 2017
    By the end of 2018, a shiny new strip of asphalt will skirt around Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, providing a new transport connection.
  • Underground expansion pushes tunnelling market
    June 13, 2012
    Infrastructure investment means that the road tunnel construction sector is healthy due to demand for new links – Mike Woof reports With many emergent nations investing heavily in infrastructure, the tunnelling sector is seeing extensive business at present. Tunnels provide key links in mountainous areas or in congested cities where building roads on the surface may not be practical. In Asia and Latin America, many key road connections are now being built underground to pass challenging terrain or provide