Once completed, Hirschhagen will be the longest motorway tunnel in the East Hesse region of Germany (around Frankfurt), surpassing the 1.66km Neuhof Tunnel. This will also make it Germany's second-longest motorway tunnel overall after Rennsteig Tunnel in Thuringia (7,916 m; A71). The tunnel will have cross-sections up to 120m2 excavated through mottled sandstone, according to geotechnical engineering firm Dr. Sprang.
A spokesperson for Porr said, “Under the contract, the bidding consortium will handle the supply, installation and start-up of all electrical equipment, fittings and components needed to open the tunnel to public traffic. Included here, for example, are systems from the power supply to the steel construction, fire detection and prevention, through to the tunnel's ventilation and lighting, as well as traffic control including intelligent monitoring and transmitting all control signals via and to the tunnel's operations centre.
“In light of the importance of safety considerations, the two tunnel tubes are linked by seven crossways accessible by vehicles and eight walkways. The fittings for these crossways are also part of the electrical equipment contract. Forecasts suggest that the average traffic impact on the whole section VKE 12 will be around 37,800 vehicles per day.”
Work was due to begin as Tunnels and Tunnelling went to press.
