Cracks in Vöttinger houses - and radio silence in the city administration of Freising

Created: 2022-02-08, 3:30 p.m

By: Helmut Hobmaier

The Vöttingen residents of the Westtangente had to endure noise and vibrations for years.

During the construction of the tunnel, however, damage was also caused to some houses - which has not yet been repaired.

© Archive photo: Gleixner

The Westtangente Freising has been open for a long time.

But homeowners are still waiting for the damage to be repaired.

Freising – For a few weeks now, traffic has been rolling over the Westtangente and through the Vöttinger Tunnel.

For many long-suffering Vöttinger residents, the construction phase is finally a thing of the past.

However, there is still damage to some houses that was caused during tunnel construction.

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)

Hans Wagner, for example, lives in what he calls a "tunnel hotspot".

Vibrations and lowering of the groundwater level caused numerous vertical and horizontal cracks in the house walls.

Nothing has been repaired or renovated yet - which annoys Wagner.

He hasn't heard from the city of Freising for a year.

"The main thing is that the traffic keeps rolling," is his bitter comment on the Tangenten opening.

The residents, however, remained seated on their damage.

This is by no means the case, explains city hall spokeswoman Christl Steinhart.

However, the damage data has not yet been fully evaluated.

Residents: "Nothing is being done"

The Vöttinger homeowner Hans Wagner was directly affected by the mammoth Westtangente project.

He had to put up with well drilling or restricted access to his property, he says.

As with all affected residents, there were several inspections - so-called evidence preservation appointments - to document the damage caused.

Between 2015 and 2021, there were a total of seven of these events to secure evidence at Wagner's house, which is located directly at the tunnel portal.

Wagner: "Many vertical and horizontal cracks on the outer and inner walls, which were caused by the lowering of the groundwater and vibrations during the construction period, were documented."

Since the last date in March 2021, however, there has been radio silence.

The city gives “no information about how to proceed and measures to deal with the damage to the houses”.

He sees the city as responsible for the damage and would like to see his house back in the condition it was in before the tangent was built.

"Unfortunately, nothing is being done about this."

City: procedure not yet completed

The residents of Vöttingen have by no means been forgotten, stressed City Hall spokeswoman Christl Steinhart when asked.

“In order to ensure the best possible transparency, the city accompanied the entire project from the start with an extremely complex procedure to preserve evidence.

The final sprint towards the definitive completion and traffic opening of the Westtangente, but also some corona-related conditions may have given the impression that the exchange with residents is stagnating - but the fact is that in some cases documents are still outstanding and the data recorded between 2014 and 2021 is still there must be evaluated by the commissioned company."

Only after this work has been completed can a “final assessment” be made for the individual cases.

Steinhart: “Damage is handled by an insurance company, which in turn works with experts and those mentioned above.

Documents required."

More current news from the district of Freising can be found here.

Numerous cracks of this kind arose in Hans Wagner's house when the west tangent was built.

The Vöttinger fears that residents like him will be left with the damage.

The evaluation of the evidence preservation procedure is not yet complete, explains the city administration - and asks for patience.

© Photo: Lehmann