Construction of the new €72M (£60M) tunnel that will supply northern Hamburg, Germany, with heat from industrial waste began last week (4 August).
Work kicked off with a large diaphragm wall excavator which began the first dredging to construct the tunnel shaft on the south bank of the Elbe.
The 1,160m long district heating tunnel will run under the River Elbe and connect north Hamburg to a new heating network. It will harness the potential of previously unused heat generated by industry in southern Hamburg.
Swiss construction company Implenia is constructing the tunnel on behalf of electric utility company Wärme Hamburg.
The company's special foundations department is creating diaphragm walls up to 42m deep for the start and end shafts. In the coming weeks the excavator will work its way down to a depth of 30m.
After this a tunnel boring machine will be launched from the shaft to drill a 1.16km long tunnel between the two shafts with a diameter of around 4.5m and lined with precast concrete sections.
The tunnel will stretch from Köhlfleethafen near Finkenwerder to the Elbchaussee on the north bank.
Commenting at the start of drilling, senator for the environment Jens Kerstan said that the project was a “milestone” in the city’s efforts to transition away from fossil fuels.
Kerstan added: "The connection required to link up the many climate-neutral heat sources in the south of Hamburg and the existing district heating networks, mainly north of the Elbe, will soon be in place thanks to the district heating route under the Elbe. The nationwide pioneering replacement of a large coal-fired power plant mainly with decentralised renewable energy sources and existing waste heat is entering the decisive phase.”
Plans are now being laid to take the coal-fired power plant in Wedel off the grid in 2025 and to use waste heat from energy-intense industry, a waste recycling plant and sewage treatment plant processes instead.
The district heating tunnel is due to be completed in 2024 or 2025.
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