Taking the straight line forward
New routes underground

Space above ground in cities is severely limited. To ensure the mobility of residents, commuters and tourists, transport routes are being developed underground – new metro systems worldwide are evidence of this trend.

The network is getting denser

The expansion of metro networks has the highest priority in many metropolitan areas. The length of metro networks is expected to increase by 325 percent between 2017 and 2050.

Our tunnelling technology creates the fastest route from A to B

Together with contractors, we create efficient metro networks for the urban mobility of tomorrow to ensure stress-free traffic in cities.

Mobility bottlenecks due to chronically congested roads are one of the most urgent planning challenges in urban conurbations. Efficient metro systems are often the best or only solution to successfully meet this challenge. They prove themselves daily in cities around the globe and transport millions of tourists, commuters and city residents to their desired destinations – safely, reliably and low in emissions. For decades, clients and contractors have relied on Herrenknecht's experience and technology to efficiently drive progress in underground expansion and new construction. Our tunnelling technology can cope with tight space constraints, can be used in all geologies and builds high quality structures with maximum safety within the restrictions of existing urban conditions. Exactly where they are needed.

We smooth the way through
the underground

Road, railway, metro, utility, pipeline, hydropower, mining, and exploration: Herrenknecht’s references include more than 6,200 completed projects around the world. Our tunnelling technology helps to build tunnels, pipelines, shafts, and production wells in all types of ground with diameters ranging from 0.10 to 19 meters. Pioneering technology from Herrenknecht is creating the infrastructure to take people forward, paving the way for progress.
As the world’s leading provider, Herrenknecht stands for:

  • vast experience and expertise
  • top technology of the highest quality
  • fully-customized, innovative solutions
  • smooth progress and expert troubleshooting
  • comprehensive service on and off site
  • close teamwork with all project partners
  • maximum reliability from start to finish

In conclusion: we make every effort to ensure that your project runs as smoothly as possible, while staying on budget and on schedule.

Metro networks benefit
from automation

Automation can contribute greatly to the safety of metro networks by reducing and ultimately removing the risk of human error altogether. Different grades of automation offer gradually more safety up to the highest level (GoA 4), where the metro is operating fully automated without any human involvement at all.

Source: UITP World Report on Metro Automation 2018

Growing networks: The length of metro networks is expected to increase by 325 percent between 2017 and 2050, at which point over two-thirds of metro tracks will be located in Asia.

With increased automation, metro networks can enhance safety by reducing the risk of human error.

The future of urban spaces

Large-scale metro projects like Grand Paris Express are not just about building metro stations. Rather, it is to create new territories and districts around them, where residents can live, work and travel more peacefully. With his research on the potential on “Groundscape”, an architecture rooted in the ground, Dominique Perrault is on the lookout for a strategy for resilient urban development, skillfully blending architecture, infrastructure and landscape. And its potential to shape the future of Megacities like Paris could be immense. While it makes room for more livable space, it also transforms a city’s infrastructure to a more organic one. So traveling is no longer a daily obligation, but a choice.

The future of megacities as a living structure above and below

Dominique Perrault, Architect, urban planner, and
head of Dominique Perrault Architecture (DPA), Paris

“The challenge is to turn these stations into districts in order to provide physical continuity between where we live and where we work or where we go.”

Example jobsite
overview

Metro tunnels and ventilation or rescue shafts must be built within the constraints of existing urban planning conditions with maximum safety for people, buildings and technology. Herrenknecht tunnelling technology can handle even the most confined spaces and bores exactly along the specified alignment.

1
Intercity railway tunnel

The EPB (Earth Pressure Balance) Shield is excavating a railway tunnel to connect an intermodal traffic hub. The TBM achieves a high advance rate in cohesive soils, supporting the tunnel face using the loosened soil.


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2
Metro tunnel

The Variable Density TBM is boring a new metro tube with shallow overburden and in a heterogeneous geology. This machine type can be adapted to the prevailing ground conditions directly in the tunnel.


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3
Ventilation shaft

The VSM is sinking a ventilation or access shaft – safely, quickly and precisely. Thanks to its modular structure, the machine can also be used for innercity projects with space constraints.


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1
2
3

The EPB (Earth Pressure Balance) Shield is excavating a railway tunnel to connect an intermodal traffic hub. The TBM achieves a high advance rate in cohesive soils, supporting the tunnel face using the loosened soil.


More information

The Variable Density TBM is boring a new metro tube with shallow overburden and in a heterogeneous geology. This machine type can be adapted to the prevailing ground conditions directly in the tunnel.


More information

The VSM is sinking a ventilation or access shaft – safely, quickly and precisely. Thanks to its modular structure, the machine can also be used for innercity projects with space constraints.


More information

Tunnelling technology for metro tunnels

Learn more about our full range of tunnelling technology for your upcoming tunnel project.

EPB Shield
1.7–16m
Soft ground
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Mixshield
3.7–19m
Heterogeneous ground
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Multi-mode TBM
2.4–19m
Heterogeneous ground Rock Soft ground
More
Single Shield TBM
1.5–14m
Rock
More
Vertical Shaft Sinking Machine (VSM)
4.5–18m
Soft ground Heterogeneous ground Rock
More
View all products

Still got questions?

We are ready!

Steffen Dubé President and General Manager Herrenknecht Tunnelling Systems USA Inc.
Gerhard Goisser Commercial Manager Herrenknecht Tunnelling Systems USA, Inc.

Your contact person Contact us

Steffen Dubé President and General Manager Herrenknecht Tunnelling Systems USA Inc.
Gerhard Goisser Commercial Manager Herrenknecht Tunnelling Systems USA, Inc.