Strabag JV wins €250 million German tunnel contract

Contractor Strabag’s subsidiary Ed Züblin leads a joint venture that has been appointed by rail operator Deutsche Bahn to construct a 5.9km tunnel in Germany.

The €250 million contract is for the Albabstieg Tunnel, which will form part of the new Wendlingen to Ulm high-speed rail line in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Ed Züblin’s share of the contract is 60%.

The tunnel’s north entrance will be in Dornstadt and south entrance in Ulm, and its structure will consist of two single-track bores lying up to 70m below ground. The bores will be connected by 11 crosscuts spaced at intervals of 500m each. Strabag said around 1.4 million m³ of soil and rock is expected to be excavated during construction.

Construction planning and preparations are scheduled to begin shortly, with tunnelling expected to start next spring and take four-and-a-half years to complete.