The revitalization will include the restoration of nearly 300 meters of the tunnel. Inside the facility, the stone enclosure will be demolished and replaced with a reinforced concrete structure. The renovation will include retaining walls and drainage. The tracks and overhead line will be replaced.
The work will be carried out using technology that ensures maximum maintenance of the railway line's passability. A "TEM" machine will be used for this purpose, which will allow "tunnel-in-tunnel" work. The machine will forge the rock material, widening the tunnel to its target dimensions, and spray concrete into the wall. The machine enclosure creates a clear space for the safe passage of trains without building additional track guards.
The Lower Silesia tunnel will use a machine that PORR has already used to perform work under the railway track in 2019 in the historic 19th-century Kuckuckslay tunnel in Germany on the Kalscheuren-Ehrang route. "This equipment was built specifically for tunneling work under railway track, and is now located in Austria. After the necessary inspections and re-commissioning, the machine will be brought back to Poland. Work should begin in the first quarter of next year," said Siegfried Weindok, board member and director of the Rail Division at PORR S.A.
Thanks to the widening of the tunnel, more trains will be able to pass through the facility and it will also be possible for trains to pass simultaneously on both tracks. The revitalized facility is important in passenger and freight transportation - it provides service to Sudetenland's open-pit mines.
Facts and figures in a nutshell
| Project type: | Rewitalizacja tunelu kolejowego na LK 274 Wrocław - Jelenia Góra wraz z infrastrukturą towarzyszącą |
| Scope of works: | Buduj |
| Client: | PKP PLK S.A. |
| Contractor: | PORR S.A. i PORR GmbH & Co. KGaA |
| Contract value: | PLN 105 million gross |
| Completion time: | 2024 |