Download Annual Report 2012 - Drees & Sommer

Upgrade of railway line
The 9.4 km-long Katzenberg tunnel was opened for rail traffic on schedule in December 2012
Drees & Sommer is managing
30 kilometers
Drees & Sommer was commissioned to
undertake project control for the planning
approval section 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3
(Schliengen/Auggen area to Basel area)
in the southern part of the new/upgraded
line. This section comprises 30 kilometers
of permanent way with civil engineering
structures including tunnels and bridges,
whereby section 9.3 on is located on
Swiss territory. After joining an existing
project in March 2012, Drees & Sommer
pulled out all the stops and established
a team of infrastructure experts within
just one month of contract award. Since
then – working from Freiburg and Karlsruhe
– this team has been supporting the
southern railway sections to Basel from
a new project office directly next to the
client’s premises.
Important stimulus for commissioning
One of the infrastructure specialists’ key
successes was the punctual opening of
the Katzenberg tunnel. The 9.4 km tunnel
bypasses the narrow, winding Rhine
Valley line. With detailed schedules
accurate to the day, the project managers
kept the approval process on schedule,
allowing the third-longest railway tunnel
in Germany to be taken into operation
at the beginning of December. The new
tunnel not only creates much-needed
extra capacity for freight and passenger
transport, but also reduces train noise
for Rhine Valley residents.
Drees & Sommer is also responsible
for the optimal control of the approval
process for section 9.3 in Switzerland.
The 3.1-kilometer section must be
planned and built in compliance with
Swiss law. The line runs along the border
between Germany and Switzerland,
and through the Badischer Bahnhof
(Baden railway station) in Basel to the
north bank of the Rhine. The route
extends south over the second Rhine
bridge in Basel, which has had two tracks
open since the end of October 2012.
After the rehabilitation of the existing
two-track steel bridge, trains can now
use all four tracks across the Rhine. The
infrastructure experts are supporting
Deutsche Bahn with control of German
Tender Regulations for Construction Work
(VOB) and the Federal Railway Authority
(EBA) acceptance and approval, and have
a firm handle on costs and schedules.
Comprehensive workload reduction for
infrastructure project
As a result of the involvement of the
expert team, Deutsche Bahn has
benefited from stringent schedule and
cost control. Drees & Sommer also
provided support in the area of organizational
and internal communication,
substantially reducing the client’s
workload. More than 40 years of
experience in demanding infrastructure
projects pays off for challenging railway
projects.
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