Upgrading Passive Fire Protection During The Complete Refurbishment In The Airport Tunnel Tegel In Berlin Germany

Published: 19 April, 2010

Airport Tunnel Tegel forms part of Berlin’s city highways, a major transport link in the German capital. With a length of around 1,000 m and two tubes it passes bellows the runways of the Tegel Airport. At it opening in 1979, it was the most modern facility Berlin could offer. But the tunnel is now getting on in years. The technical equipment no longer meets today’s requirements and must be completely renewed. Moreover, leackage of groundwater through structural joints has frequently led to ice forming on the road surfaces in the winter. The lanes have even had to be closed for certain periods of time, which has brought traffic in the city to the verge of total collapse each time. A thorough overhaul had become unavoidable.

In October 2006 the tunnel was finally closed for a period of 18 months. To minimize the disruption to private and commercial traffic and keep at close to the scheduled completion date as possible, Berlin’s Senate had contractually bound the structural contractor to work 6 days per week in multi-shift operation.

First the two tubes were completely gutted. The M&E equipment, the suspended ceiling, the tiles from the walls, the mortar from the ceiling and the road surface was removed during a period of 6 month. The first refurbishment was the installation of a new tunnel sealant strip at the construction joints. The outside sealant was fixed by flange and concrete screws to the refurbished concrete edges.

File: 542-545_Upgrading passive fire protection.pdf (2803k)

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