Work is continuing on all major tunnelling projects involving collapsed German construction giant Philipp Holzmann. A Holzmann spokesman told T&TI “Since all the tunnelling projects are built by joint ventures, the works are being continued by the JV-partners.”
Current international tunnelling projects include the Westerschelde tunnel and Sophiatunnel, both in the Netherlands, and a major sewer tunnel in Singapore. Tunnelling projects underway in Germany include Dusseldorf Metro, the River Elbe tunnel in Hamburg, a railway tunnel in Berlin and the construction of four tunnels as part of the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed railway.
Several companies have expressed interest in acquiring subsidiaries of Holzmann including other German premier league contractors Strabag and Bilfinger + Berger, but no firm bids have been reported yet.
Crisis hit the debt-laden contractor in late March. Holzmann was Germany’s biggest construction group and its collapse is the country’s biggest every corporate failure. The company filed for insolvency after banks turned down a refinancing plan.
Philipp Holzmann was founded in 1849 and in its 150 year history became one of the world’s truly global construction companies. It’s tunnelling activities stretch back more than 100 years – last year its tunnelling turnover was US$117 million.
In one of the company’s first recorded tunnelling projects, Holzmann in 1895 completed a shield-driven tunnel under the Spree-river in Berlin. It followed this in 1907-1911 by constructing the first tunnel under the river Elbe in Hamburg. Ironically, one of the projects now facing uncertainty because of Holzmann’s demise is Hamburg’s new Elbe tunnel.
