Insights

16.01.2019

PORR Infra to kit out Germany's second-longest road tunnel

Hirschhagen Tunnel on the A44 near Kassel to receive electrical equipment worth approx. EUR 31.5m

Salzburg/Kassel, 16.01.2019 – The PORR bidding consortium won the tender for the construction project "A44, VKE 12, Tunnel Hirschhagen, Technische Ausstattung" at the turn of the year. PORR Infra GmbH will be responsible for realising the contract. The tunnel is set to open to traffic in spring 2022.

"This sophisticated traffic infrastructure project is a milestone for PORR in Germany. Thanks to the expansion of our product portfolio in 2018, the PORR Group – represented by PORR Infra GmbH – is a firm fixture on the German market in the field of electrical equipment for road tunnels," said Gerhard Jelinek, Managing Director of PORR Infra.

In the course of the new construction of the 5.2-km-long section of the A44, the two-tube Hirschhagen tunnel will play a leading role in traffic technology. The lot has a length of around 4.2 km (North tube 4,147 m, South tunnel 4,204 m). Upon completion, Hirschhagen Tunnel will edge out Neuhof Tunnel in East Hesse (1,610 m; A66) to become the longest motorway tunnel in the State of Hesse. This will also make it Germany's second-longest motorway tunnel after Rennsteig Tunnel in Thuringia (7,916 m; A71). The project will start in February 2019.

Highly complex technical installation in public infrastructure sector

Under the contract, the bidding consortium will handle the supply, installation and start-up of the entire electrical equipment, fittings and components needed to open the tunnel to public traffic. Included here, for example, are systems from the power supply to the steel construction, fire detection and prevention, through to the tunnel's ventilation and lighting, as well as traffic control including intelligent monitoring and transmitting all control signals via and to the tunnel's operations centre.

In light of the importance of safety considerations, the two tunnel tubes are linked by seven crossways accessible by vehicles and eight walkways. The fittings for these crossways are also part of the electrical equipment contract. Forecasts suggest that the average traffic impact on the whole section VKE 12 will be around 37,800 vehicles per day.

Facts and figures at a glance

2018-02-20 . Press release.  

PORR expands into sphere of tunnel and traffic technology.

Vienna, 20.02.2018 - A small niche with a huge impact: with the acquisition of Tunnel- & Traffic Consulting GmbH, effective 31 January 2018, PORR has entered the tunnel and traffic technology business and expanded its range of services. The company’s core business is electromechanical infrastructure and intelligent safety solutions. 
 
The team headed by the mastermind and founder of Tunnel- & Traffic Consulting, Gerhard Jelinek, will establish and expand the “traffic safety infrastructure” division within the PORR Group under the name PORR Infra GmbH. The portfolio includes tunnelling technology such as ITS (intelligent transportation systems), control rooms and rail technology. In addition, PORR Infra will realise special projects in the infrastructure sector including lighting and signal technology for airports as well as public lighting for whole cities. The full service provision extends to service and maintenance of all facilities. PORR Infra will provide these services not just in the PORR Group, but also for third parties. 
 
In terms of geography, the company’s focus will include the PORR home markets of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Poland and the Czech Republic. Cultivating the markets in Scandinavia, Benelux and the Baltic states is also on the agenda. 
 
Karl-Heinz Strauss, CEO of PORR, welcomes the growth: “We at PORR have managed to bring on board real pros in the form of Gerhard Jelinek and his strong team. They have already realised numerous projects very successfully – both nationally and internationally. Our new team knows more about tunnel and traffic technology than practically anyone else on the market”. 
 
The order is already in for a first project in Austria: PORR Infra will overhaul the A12 Mils tunnel to the latest standards in a consortium with Insoft. Installation work will begin in March 2018 and completion is set for December 2018.