Customer: DB Netz AG
Construction period: 03.2009 – 11.2011
Location: Ediger-Eller and Cochem an der Mosel, Rhineland-Palatinate
Country: Germany

The project is located at the railway line 3100 between Koblenz and Perl. For the most part, except some tunnels, this project is executed along the river Mosel. The old Kaiser-Wilhelm-Tunnel was completed in 1877 and needs to be adjusted to the safety standards of Deutsche Bahn. Therefore, a new tunnel is constructed with a length of approx. 4,200 m and an inside diameter of 9.00 m.

The new tunnel is constructed with a tunnel boring machine (TBM) with an excavation diameter of 10.12 m. The soil conditions subdivide the tunnel into an approx. 3,800 m section with sand and mud stone as well as into an approx. 400 m loose rock section. Therefore dual-mode TBM is used. The first section is operated in the open mode, the second section using the earth pressure mode. The tunnel is lined with 0.40 m thick and 2.00 m long trough segments (prefabricated reinforced concrete compound units).

A special feature of this project is the delivery of troughs and the removal of the excavated material by railway. The new and the old tunnel of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Tunnels will be linked with each other by eight connexions with a length of approx. 15 m each. The presight readings and portals are also part of the contract.

Technical Details
Length of tunnel: 4,200 m
Excavation diameter: 10.12 m
Reinforced concrete troughs: 48,000 m³
Concrete steel for reinforced concrete troughs: 5,000 t
Concrete for base filling: 14,000 m³
Floor cut: 359,000 m³
Concrete for portals and crossways: 4,500 m³
Concrete steel for portals and crossways: 500 t