Manufacturer of tunnel boring machines: Herrenknecht AG
Total length: c. 2 x 9.5 km Shield diameter: c. 10.82 m Covering: max. 220 m Height difference: c. 155 m Inclination: up to 25 ‰
Time: 2013 - 2021
Building costs: c. 500 mill. EUR
Our scope: Calculating and checking of the construction of shield machines S-738 and S-746
SUSE, lead the way.
The twin-bore Filder Tunnel is part of German railways’ (Deutsche Bahn) large-scale Stuttgart 21 project. It connects Stuttgart’s main railway station with the Filder Plain and the airport.
The tunnel has a total length of c. 9.5 km. About half of its length is being excavated by the SUSE tunnel boring machines. SUSE is an abbreviation of "Stuttgart-Ulm schneller erreicht" (Stuttgart to Ulm reached faster). The shield diameter of the boring machines is 10.82 m and the eventual internal diameter of the tunnel will be 9.6 m.
The convertible multi-mode tunnel boring machines were manufactured by the firm Herrenknecht. Our task was to calculate and check the steel construction of shield machines S-738 and S-746 independently of the manufacturer. Our calculations were carried out using a 3D FEM model.
So SUSE is now digging its way through the earth, slowly but surely, so that Deutsche Bahn and its connection between Stuttgart and Ulm will soon be faster.