The Karlsruhe combined solution: Tunnel boring machine (TBM) largely completed
As part of a construction project being led by Mr Peter Müller, KREBS+KIEFER Ingenieure GmbH, Karlsruhe, employees working at the Karlsruhe site were able to inspect close up the tunnel boring machine being used to construct the tunnel under Karlsruhe’s Kaiserstraße, right in the heart of the pedestrian zone.
As part of a construction project being led by Mr Peter Müller, KREBS+KIEFER Ingenieure GmbH, Karlsruhe, employees working at the Karlsruhe site were able to inspect close up the tunnel boring machine being used to construct the tunnel under Karlsruhe’s Kaiserstraße, right in the heart of the pedestrian zone.
They also visited the excavation starting point that had been constructed using the cut-and-cover method and which is to become the Durlacher Tor stop. The future Durlacher Tor stop is the most eastern of seven stops that are to be constructed underground comprising approximately 4.4km of straight lengths.
The section of tunnel that is to be drilled using the tunnel boring machine comprises approximately 2,049m and runs under the entire inner-city pedestrian zone of Karlsruhe’s Kaiserstraße.
The tunnel boring machine has a cutting head measuring 9.28m across which will be driven by several electric motors with a total of 1,600 kW (around 2,160 HP) of power.
The transverse tunnel section to be constructed has an internal diameter of 8.20m. The ring, made of pre-fabricated reinforced concrete parts, the so-called Tübbingen, measures 40cm by 2.0m and each ring weighs over 50 tonnes.
On 25 October 2014, guests are invited to attend the “Poster Party” in the presence of Ms Gerlinde Hämmerle, a former member of German Parliament and district president from Karlsruhe who is also the tunnel’s patron.
A day later, on 26 October 2014, the “Construction Site Open Day” will take place between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. - all interested parties have been invited.
The tunnel boring machine will begin working at the end of October 2014 and is estimated to reach its target shaft at Mühlburger Tor, west of the Karlsruhe pedestrian zone, in the summer of 2015.
