Züblin, Hochtief JV wins rail tunnel contract

A joint venture formed by Züblin and Hochtief has been awarded a €312 million contract by DB Netz, the railway infrastructure subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, to build the Rastatt Tunnel, which forms part of the new railway route between Karlsruhe in Germany and Basel in Switzerland.

The two Germany companies will work together to develop the twin-tube rail tunnel, which passes directly under the city area of Rastatt. The tunnel will be bored mechanically with a hydro shield tunnel boring machine over a length of 3.8km. The contract also includes the trough sections to the south and north as well as a supply shaft and an operational building.

Wilfried Rammler, general manager of Hochtief Infrastructure, said, "We are very pleased that, with this project, we will be building an important part of Deutsche Bahn‘s main north-south railway route.

"Our experts with their expertise in tunnel boring machines are thus once again involved in the upgrading of modern, sustainable transportation infrastructure in Germany."

Work will start on the project in November 2014 and conclude in mid-2018.