Euro-Tunnel Calais / Dover - Wannenwetsch HDW

Deployment of a telescopic robot with curved beam, designed for tunnelling:

Repair of fire damage in the Euro Tunnel

With a total length of 50 km and an undersea section of 37 km under the English Channel, the Euro Tunnel is the longest undersea tunnel in the world. Opened in 1994, the tunnel offers a direct rail link between France and England through two single-track tunnels.

There was an accident on 11 September 2008. A fire broke out in one of the tunnels. Wannenwetsch GmbH, among others, was contracted to repair the fire damage. The tunnels were fully reopened on 9 February 2009 (partial opening previously).

Job Report – Factsheet

Project: Euro-Tunnel Calais / Dover
Contractor: Groupe Eurotunnel S.A
Client: Doornbros Verhuur BV
Type of operation: Repair of fire damage in the undersea tunnel
Special feature: Use of a newly designed curved beam on a telescopic robot
Equipment technology: Telescopic robot
Unit: 1000 bar, 240 l/min
Cutting: 6000 m² concrete cutting on curved tunnel ceiling, 3 cm thick

Custom design

The curved shape of the tunnel normally only permits narrow cutting beams, which must make more frequent passes and then require more space for the cutting surface debris than standard compared with straight surfaces.

To avoid this effect, the technical division of Wannenwetsch GmbH developed a curved beam that offered considerable time savings compared with the conventional method, thanks to its standard 3 m width.

Concrete cutting

Thanks to this tunnel-specific design, the two high-pressure units and two telescopic robots with curved beams were able to cut approx. 6000 m² of the curved tunnel ceiling in 4 weeks.

Result

By adjusting the cutting beam to the component geometry of the Euro Tunnel, the telescopic robot originally designed for the tunnel was optimised once again for a project-specific application.

Thus, Wannenwetsch achieved a considerable time advantage for all subsequent processing stages.

This technical innovation also prevailed in subsequent projects. Customers of Wannenwetsch GmbH benefitted from efficient cutting and a time-saving project schedule.

Working under the highest quality criteria

Renovation of the P6 multi-storey car park – Zurich Airport

With more than 26 million passengers every year, Zurich is the number 1 airport in Switzerland. The airport is also an international player in terms of quality. Therefore, the chloride-damaged surfaces of the P6 multi-storey car park were overhauled to the highest standards, including the consistent use of certified particulate filters.

Work on a European transport hub

Renovation of Felperbrücke - A13 Brenner motorway

The renovation works on the high-traffic Felperbrücke on the Brenner motorway were completed in three construction phases – with two-way traffic throughout – and posed great challenges to man and machine due to the tight interim and final deadlines.

Renovation of the water-side dam wall

Maintenance of Pöhl Reservoir / Saxony

The structure required restoration due to the severely damaged concrete surface of the water-side dam wall. The remedial works for the dam wall were scheduled in two stages. Firstly, large areas of damage, weathered old concrete were removed by high-pressure water blasting. Secondly, a 20 cm-thick shotcrete facing formwork was constructed.

Work on the North Sea bed

Renovation of the Limfjord Tunnel, Denmark

The Limfjord tunnel is a key link to the Aalborg region. Water penetrated the twin-tube undersea motorway tunnel due to leaky construction joints. The purpose of the renovation was to stop the water penetration and to reconstruct the damaged concrete.

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