Wienerwaldtunnel
Encyclopedia
The Wienerwald Tunnel is a 13.35-kilometre-long railway tunnel under construction west of Vienna
passing underneath the northern part of Wienerwald
between Gablitz and Mauerbach. It is part of a new 250 kilometres per hour line between Vienna and St. Pölten
that will enter service in 2012.
11 km of the Wienerwaldtunnel from its western portal is built as a bi-tube tunnel (a tunnel consisting of two connected single-track tubes), the rest is a two-track, single tube section. The digging of the single tube section started in autumn 2004, using drill-and-blast and excavator methods. The boring of the bi-tube section started a year later, using two TBMs
. Tunnel boring was finished two years later, structural work was completed in February 2010, track construction (using slab track) started in the summer of 2010.
The Wienerwaldtunnel is only one part of a tunnel complex: at the eastern (Vienna) end, it ends in an underground junction with a 2.2 km tunnel carrying two extra tracks for the old Westbahn (which is already in service since December 2008), and direct tracks across the junction continue in the Lainzer Tunnel (a 12.3 km long two-track single tube tunnel that is also in construction for a 2012 opening), the Lainzer Tunnel itself branches before its eastern end towards two portals. The altogether 26 km Wienerwald/Lainzer Tunnel will enable trains travelling along the Westbahn to call at Vienna's new main station
, and will be Austria's longest tunnel.
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
passing underneath the northern part of Wienerwald
Wienerwald
The Vienna Woods are forested highlands that form the northeastern foothills of the Northern Limestone Alps in the states of Lower Austria and Vienna. The long and wide hill range is heavily wooded and a popular recreation area with the Viennese....
between Gablitz and Mauerbach. It is part of a new 250 kilometres per hour line between Vienna and St. Pölten
Sankt Pölten
Sankt Pölten is the capital city of the State of Lower Austria in northeast Austria. With inhabitants , it is Lower Austria's largest city...
that will enter service in 2012.
Construction details
As part of the on-going four-tracking of the Westbahn, Austria's most important rail corridor, the doubling of the Vienna — St. Pölten section gets two new tracks on an alignment without high grades and fit for high speeds, deviating far to the North of the original line. The single biggest superstructure required is the tunnel to cross the Wienerwald mountains.11 km of the Wienerwaldtunnel from its western portal is built as a bi-tube tunnel (a tunnel consisting of two connected single-track tubes), the rest is a two-track, single tube section. The digging of the single tube section started in autumn 2004, using drill-and-blast and excavator methods. The boring of the bi-tube section started a year later, using two TBMs
Tunnel boring machine
A tunnel boring machine also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They can bore through anything from hard rock to sand. Tunnel diameters can range from a metre to almost 16 metres to date...
. Tunnel boring was finished two years later, structural work was completed in February 2010, track construction (using slab track) started in the summer of 2010.
The Wienerwaldtunnel is only one part of a tunnel complex: at the eastern (Vienna) end, it ends in an underground junction with a 2.2 km tunnel carrying two extra tracks for the old Westbahn (which is already in service since December 2008), and direct tracks across the junction continue in the Lainzer Tunnel (a 12.3 km long two-track single tube tunnel that is also in construction for a 2012 opening), the Lainzer Tunnel itself branches before its eastern end towards two portals. The altogether 26 km Wienerwald/Lainzer Tunnel will enable trains travelling along the Westbahn to call at Vienna's new main station
Wien Hauptbahnhof
Wien Hauptbahnhof is the name for a railway station under construction in Vienna, Austria. It will replace the Südbahnhof terminal station with a through station which links four major railway lines that converge on Vienna from the North, East, West and South...
, and will be Austria's longest tunnel.