Rehabilitation work on the Weissenstein Tunnel has begun (SUI)
moreMajor rehabilitation work has begun on the Weissenstein Tunnel in Switzerland. The tunnel is currently closed until the work is completed, scheduled for the end of 2025.
The tunnel was opened to traffic in 1908 and needs to be rehabilitated so that it can continue to be used for decades to come.
The Weissenstein Tunnel is a 3.7 km long, over 100 year old single-track railway tunnel that runs through the approximately 1,300 m high Weissenstein mountain and is owned and operated by the Bernese Alpine Railway Company Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon. The existing tunnel has a masonry vault as well as an open water intake and a drainage system. The large groundwater inflow from the mountain, which can be several 100 l/s, has to be collected and diverted.
The rehabilitation work will include localized partial and complete rehabilitation of the vault in various sections of the tunnel, as well as renewal of the tunnel drainage system, cable systems, safety installations and track. Two existing stations will also be gradually modernized to make them accessible.
IG WST (ILF Consulting Engineers in Switzerland and Emch+Berger AG Bern) has been commissioned by the sole contractor – the joint venture ARGE EWT (PORR Group and fretus ag) – as the “Tunnel and Stations Project Manager”, responsible for all rehabilitation works in the tunnel and the stations.
