Groundbreaking ceremony for major transportation project in Karlsruhe
As an advance measure for the “Kombilösung” tramline project in the center of Karlsruhe –
a once-in-a-century undertaking expected to cost ca. 590 million EUR – an information pavilion is now being constructed according to the designs of the competition winners, Kränzle+Fischer-Wasels Architekten.
The Kombilösung project combines tunneling under Kaiserstraße, which is heavily used by trams and represents a bottleneck in an east-west direction, with a new southern route bypassing the city center via Kriegsstraße. The tunnel is being constructed using the shield driving method and will allow all tram routes currently passing through the Kaiserstraße pedestrian zone to run underground.
As an advance measure for the “Kombilösung” tramline project in the center of Karlsruhe –
a once-in-a-century undertaking expected to cost ca. 590 million EUR – an information pavilion is now being constructed according to the designs of the competition winners, Kränzle+Fischer-Wasels Architekten.
The Kombilösung project combines tunneling under Kaiserstraße, which is heavily used by trams and represents a bottleneck in an east-west direction, with a new southern route bypassing the city center via Kriegsstraße. The tunnel is being constructed using the shield driving method and will allow all tram routes currently passing through the Kaiserstraße pedestrian zone to run underground.
Access to the tram routes from ground level will be via several tram stops which are to be constructed using the cut-and-cover method. The information center will be positioned at the Ettlinger Tor tram stop, at the point where the southern branch of the tram tunnel meets the bypass route via Kriegstraße. Here, detailed project information will be available and project-related events will be held. A decisive element in the design of the pavilion was the possibility of dismantling it and re-using it in a different location.
The work officially began with groundbreaking ceremony on 23.07.2009, led by Karlsruhe’s Lord Mayor Heinz Fenrich in the presence of Regional Commissioner Dr. Rudolf Kühner and of Dr. Walter Casazza, Managing Director of Karlsruher Schieneninfrastruktur-Gesellschaft mbH (KASIG), the company which is developing the project. The Lord Mayor described this measure as the starting signal for the actual construction project which will start in January 2010.
Dr.-Ing. Ioannis Retzepis, Managing Partner of KREBS+KIEFER, is responsible for checking the design of the pavilion on behalf of the construction authorities.
