TUNNELS IN GERMANY

This article reviews Germany's tunnel systems, and examines the growth of tunnelling and the future prospects for tunnelling in Germany. Germany's geology is very varied indeed, and includes loose soils, sandstone, limestone, gypsum, basalt, and granite. Germany has about 1200km of transport tunnels, including 600km for underground railways and urban rapid transit systems, 450km for long-distance railways, and 150km for roads. Railway tunnelling began in 1841 and reached a peak around 1880. Underground railway construction began in 1902 in Berlin and 1911 in Hamburg, but mostly occurred on a large scale in 19 German cities from the mid-1960s on. From 1980 on, tunnels were being built for high-speed rail; 270km of the 841km of high-speed track built so far is in tunnels. During the last decade, the total length of operational transport tunnels has risen considerably. Each year, about 12km of tunnel is completed for urban rapid transit systems, about 5km for high-speed rail, and about 11km for motorways and main roads. After 1998, there are definite plans for constructing about 375km of tunnel, including 50km for urban underground railways, 220km for long-distance rail, and 105km for roads. Beyond this, up to 100km of additional road tunnel could be built in Eastern Germany.