German Unity Transport Project 8

Silberberg Tunnel

Silberberg Tunnel portal north on November 2015 (Photo: DB AG/Frank Kniestedt)

Facts and figures

The Silberberg Tunnel near the town of Großbreitenbach is the second longest tunnel on the new Ebensfeld–Erfurt line after the Bleßberg Tunnel with a length of 7,391 metres. The tunnel's south portal is on the northern side of the Oelze Valley. The tunnel goes into the Thuringian slate mountains under the Großbreitenbach plateau and the western part of the town.

(Graphic: DB AG)

The construction of the tunnel is taking place in two sections (south and north) simultaneously. Tunnelling is proceeding not from the tunnel's portals but from two intermediate points that will later serve as emergency exits. These two intermediate tunnels at Altenfeld (752 metres) and Möhrenbach (352 metres) run perpendicular to the tunnel axis. The excavated material is being transported through the main tunnel and the side tunnels to the Reischeltal landfill in the south by construction site vehicles and to the Ilmsenberg landfill, which is around 1.7 kilometres away, in the north by road vehicles on the L 1047.