Realisation of the High Speed Rail Project Nuremberg Ingoldstadt

The high speed rail Nuremberg – Ingolstadt in Germany has been in operation since May 2006. This paper presents an overview of the central lot, which included three tunnels with a total length of 15,6 km and three bridges. Out of these structures, the Irlahüll-tunnel is explained in more detail in this paper. This paper focuses on the numerous changes of design and construction method which had to be undertaken. These changes were mainly caused by differences between the predicted geological conditions and the situation encountered during construction. As an example, different karst cavities in the zone of the tunnels had to be dealt with and their effect on the structural behaviour of the tunnels had to be taken into account.