Brenner Eisenbahn GmbH (BEG), a subsidiary of ÖBB Infrastruktur Bau, has awarded Austria’s largest-ever contract for railway engineering infrastructure, which has a total value of about €260 million, to the consortium ALPTRANSIT BRENNER (Rhomberg Bahntechnik / Alpine Bau).
The railway infrastructure works for the whole length specified in Contract A1 for “Basic infrastructure” cover the following works, which in their entirety embrace the same security concept as all the remaining infrastructure contracts:
- Overall coordination of the site / site management
- Completion of the tunnel shell
- Slab track with mass-spring systems
- Finishing works in 33 shaft head and seven service buildings
- Security system installations (sluice chambers, doors and gates)
- Cable placement for security systems, power supply and telecommunications
- Installation of noise protection equipment
- Installation of extinguishing water system
- Overall logistics coordination and security management
- Provision and operation of the temporary works required to construct the project
With this overall concept, the client has given security the importance which it deserves and which is essential in a project of this magnitude.
The north access section of the Brenner Tunnel is particularly important to rail transport within Europe as part of the TEN 1 – Axis Berlin-Palermo in a north-south direction and as the main east-west traffic artery in the junction with the Lower Inn rail link. Security, in particular, is a topic with a crucial role to play in the design and construction of the railway engineering infrastucture, due to its complexity and tight timeframe.
The railway engineering infrastructure in the Lower Inn (Tirol) Valley consists of the 41km long Kundl/Radfeld – Baumkirchen section, which is mainly of new double-track construction. The underground sections are led through a single main-tunnel tube. This length of line is particularly notable for its high proportion of tunnel works, with a total of 34km double-track tunnel designed for a maximum operating speed of 250km/h. The modernisation of the whole route has the main aim of considerably speeding up and increasing the capacity for transporting people and goods between northern Europe and Italy.
Please see the link on our profile for more information about this project.