Extension of the Urban Railway Line U5 in Frankfurt/Main

With the extension of the urban railway line U5 past the main station to the west, Frankfurt’s Europaviertel quarter will gain a high-capacity link to the public transport network of the city. The completion of construction works on the section about 2.7 km long including altogether four new stations (three above ground) is planned for the end of 2022. The total cost for the extension of the Line U5 into the Europaviertel will be 282 million euros – supported with 157 million from the state of Hessen and the federal government. The client is local transport operator Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main (VGF), which has founded the company Stadtbahn Europaviertel Projektbaugesellschaft (SBEV) for this purpose. Contractor is the joint venture ARGE U5 Europaviertel consisting of Porr Deutschland GmbH and Stump Spezialtiefbau GmbH.

For the construction of the twin-bore tunnel (2 x 837 m), the tunnel boring machine (TBM) S-1127 is to be used. This was accepted on 18 January 2018 at the Herrenknecht works in Schwanau in Baden. The machine should start work on the underground alignment from the launching excavation (Europa-Allee, crossing with Stockholmer Straße, eastward to the junction structure at the Platz der Republik) in the second half of 2018. The two tunnel bores should be completed in about 12 months. In 2020, construction works should start on the above-ground section of the line and the lining of the tunnels under the Europagarten.

The TBM to be used is 84 m long and weighs 580 t, has a diameter of 7.10 m and is a special construction adapted to the ground conditions under Frankfurt; the cutting wheel is fitted with about 100 chisels and 29 disc cutters. It will excavate the two tunnel bores in the Frankfurt subsoil with a power of 1305 hp.

G.B.