Northern approach route to the Brenner Base Tunnel

The Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT) is a joint Austrian-Italian project for the construction of a rail tunnel to transport passenger and freight traffic through the Brenner massif. It crosses beneath the Tyrolean Alps along the Innsbruck (A) – Bolzano (I) axis and forms part of the Berlin-Palermo high-speed rail line - a link stretching over 2,200 kilometres in total. At 55 kilometres in length, it is the second-longest railway tunnel in the world after the Gotthard Base Tunnel.

The specifications for the Northern approach route to the BBT through the Lower Inn Valley called for highly-effective vibration protection and sound control.

The challenges

Extension of the Brenner railway axis – relief of the traffic load in the region
Relief of the traffic load on the Kundl/Radfeld-Baumkirchen section
The new two-track rail line is laid out for a speed of 250 km/h – placing high demands on vibration protection and sound control.
Traffic of between 260 and 300 trains each day on the track section – predominantly for freight transport

The Getzner solution

The northern approach route to the future Brenner Base Tunnel is receiving the largest connected mass-spring system for isolation of structure-borne noise and vibrations that has been installed in a railway track to date.

Approximately 80,000 m2 of highly-efficient mass-spring systems with Sylomer® and Sylodyn® elastomer bearings have been installed in the sections of the approach route that run through tunnels and galleries – such sections account for around 32 of the total 40 kilometres.

Precise adaptation of the static and dynamic properties for the various bearing variants resulted in an optimum level of efficiency that complies with all the requirements (damping efficiency). The result is a significant reduction in vibrations and structure-borne noise.

Brenner Tunnel during construction, with green LED lighting on the walls and scaffolding

Advantages for the customer

Largest connecting mass-spring system through tunnels and galleries
Significant reduction of vibrations and structure-borne noise for protection of neighbouring residents
New two-track line, designed for around 300 goods trains daily at a speed of 250 km/h

Customer feedback

«When realising the approach route to the Brenner Base Tunnel, the engineers from Getzner showed themselves to be very skilled and motivated: they stood out due to their specialist knowledge and their obvious expertise with their product. It was important for ARGE to have a partner with whom we could solve problems together and who could put their high-tech product across well. Getzner met this requirement in full.» Robert Kumpusch EMBA-HSG, Project Manager ARGE Alptransit Brenner.