Boring of Deboreč Tunnel Launched on Rail Corridor IV

13.12.2018

Today, Správa železniční dopravní cesty (SŽDC) festively started boring the Deboreč tunnel. This is the shorter of two tunnels which will constitute a new part of the line Sudoměřice – Votice on Czech Rail Transit Corridor IV. Boring started from the exit (Prague) portal; it should be completed next July, including the primal lining.

Modernization of the line Sudoměřice – Votice is one of the final parts of the constructions’ complex on Czech Rail Transit Corridor IV which connects Germany and Austria through Děčín, Prague and České Budějovice. A second track will be added to the current single-track line section as well as two tunnels and a new railway station Červený Újezd. Construction works should be completed in January 2022.

”Trains’ speed will increase up to 160 kph which will allow journey times of express trains between Prague and Tábor of one hour. The boring of the Deboreč tunnel 660 metres long launched today will contribute considerably to such a decrease“, said Mr. Jiří Svoboda, Director General of SŽDC.

The construction’s objective is building one more tunnel – a 840 metres long tunnel Mezno. The Sudoměřice – Votice line will be mostly relocated from its current path which will shorten this route by two kilometres. The current railway stations Střezimíř, Ješetice and Heřmaničky will be replaced by a single station called Červený Újezd. It will be completed by railway stops Mezno, Střezimíř, Červený Újezd, Ješetice and Heřmaničky. In the deep valley between the railway stops Ješetice and Heřmaničky, three long scaffold bridges are going to be constructed, the longest one being 244 metres long.

The Deboreč tunnel is bored by a so-called New Austrian Boring Method which consists in mechanical breaking of rocks and their following lock-out by primal lining which activates the basic properties of the rock massif. When the tunnel is completely bored next summer, secondary lining will be provided by formwork including bored parts of both tunnel portals. The tunnel’s bored part is 562 metres long.

The construction’s supplier is the company OHL ŽS which also assured construction in the previous section Tábor – Sudoměřice with the Sudoměřice tunnel. ”Before the boring was launched, it was necessary to assure preparation of the terrain, to elaborate and negotiate implementing project documentation and to build the exit portal’s foundation pit which the boring would be carried out from. The starting dozens of metres in the tunnel will be bored in geologically less favourable conditions as the rock will be broken mechanically, implemented procedures will be shorter and the reinforcement more massive. In the middle part of the tunnel, the massif should be stronger and rock should be broken by blasting which will make the construction procedure more effective. The company OHL ŽS should participate in the works’ implementation by its own capacities as well. The tunnel’s boring is symbolically launched by consecration of the statuette of St. Barbara, patron of miners“, said Mr. Roman Kocúrek, Director General of OHL ŽS.

Total investment costs of the project designated as Modernization of the line Sudoměřice – Votice equal CZK 7,159,049,000 (VAT excluded). A request for co-financing this project under he operational Programme Transport 2014 – 2020 from the EU Cohesion Fund was submitted at the end of 2017. In case of its approval, the EU contribution can amount up to CZK 5,151,794,403. National financing is provided by the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure.

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