Sörenberg Tunnel
Switzerland, Sörenberg
2000 – 2001

With the construction of a new pipeline by the Transitgas AG from the Netherlands to Italy that delivered about 75 percent of the Swiss gas market, an old pipeline in the Sörenberg region (Canton Luzern) was to be replaced by a new pipeline. The new pipeline's alignment was planed to cross under the Sörenberg instead of running though a moor like the old one from the 1970s. The tunnel has a total length of 5.2 kilometers and climbs at a gradient of five percent. The tunnel was first to be lined with concerete segments and afterwards the gas pipeline was to be installed.

The challenge for the Herrenknecht Singel Shield TBM: rock formations such as “Sörenberg melange” (clay and marl slate), flysch and globigerina marl and, furthermore, the risk of encountering gas-emmitting rock. The hardrock TBM was equipped with a gas-detecting system that would warn the tunnel crew and would shut of electricity automatically, leaving only ventilation, emergency light and telephone in operation. From August 2000 until June 2011, the machine excavated the tunnel up to the successfull breakthrough.

Data Sheet

Country, Location

Switzerland, Sörenberg

Year

2000 – 2001

Application

Gas

Geology

Rock
Clay, marl slate, flysch

Tunnelling length

5,265 m

Machine Data

1x Single Shield TBM:
Diameter: 4,520 mm
Lining method: Segmental lining
Cutterhead power: 900 kW
Torque: 1,384 kNm

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.