Customer: DEGES
Construction period: 03.2005 – 12.2010
Location: Leipzig
Country: Germany

Making Short Cuts
The new Leipzig City Tunnel will run under the centre of this famous ‘trade-fair’ city. It will go from the Bavarian Station to the Main Station.

The total length of the project (including stations and access ramps) will be 5,279 metres. The tunnel will house an electrified section of two way track. The diameter of each of the single track tunnels will be 9 metres. ALPINE Bau will use open cut tunnelling methods for the access ramps (two of which are at the Main Railway Station and one at the Bavarian Station) and the four underground stations. Each of the single track tunnels will be constructed using shield tunnelling. The top of the tunnel will be between 8 and 16 metres under the ground. During the shield tunnelling process, the tunnel will be supported using specially constructed segmented lining at the point of excavation. This will be 40 centimetres thick. Each lining ring consists of seven slabs and one keystone and has a weight of 47 tons. ALPINE will use over 13,000 lining segments.

The railway line in the tunnel will consist of a rigid sleeper-less track and a ‘mass spring’ system will be installed to maximise noise reduction in the inner city areas. The tunnel has been designed for a maximum speed of up to 80 kilometres per hour.