Falling fan parts: car tunnel in the far distance

Created: 05/24/2022Updated: 05/24/2022, 19:26

A car tunnel and an above-ground tram line are being built in the Kriegsstrasse.

© Uli Deck/dpa/archive image

First something is wrong with two fans, then rotor blades fly - Karlsruhe pulls the emergency brake.

The opening of the car tunnel in the city is a long way off.

Karlsruhe - After serious defects in the ventilation system, the opening of the Karlsruhe car tunnel has been delayed by months.

There was a safety risk from ejected material and falling fan parts, confirmed Mayor of Karlsruhe Frank Mentrup (SPD) on Tuesday.

The SWR and the "Badische Latest News" had previously reported on it.

The car tunnel under the Karlsruher Kriegsstraße should be opened in the spring.

It is part of the local transport project combined solution.

Some of the tram traffic will be routed through a tunnel under the pedestrian zone, while some of the trams will run above ground on the new Kriegsstraße route to the south.

This former ten-lane car lane has been converted into a boulevard.

Car traffic is to be guided into a tunnel under the Kriegsstrasse.

According to information from the Karlsruhe Rail Infrastructure Company (KASIG) to the members of the Supervisory Board, there were unforeseeable technical defects in two fans installed under the tunnel ceiling.

Up to three of the 36 fans are likely to fail and safety risks were initially not apparent.

But then shortly before the planned opening of the tunnel there was another defect: "Danger and safety risk due to ejected material and falling fan parts have occurred!", says the info.

As a result, the opening of the tunnel was stopped.

The information about the traffic clearance states that the fan parts are secured.

They are examined in a material testing institute.

Now all fans must be checked.

The investigations took time;

it is therefore not yet possible to make any statement about a time horizon.

The delivery times for the spare parts alone are currently around 20 weeks.

It is a one-off case, emphasized Mayor Mentrup at SWR.

In no other tunnel has there been such an incident with a comparable device.

The error, which occurred just a few days before the actually planned release of the 1,360 meter long tube, must be taken very seriously.

In the event of a fire, the powerful fans are designed to expel smoke to the outside.

"We have to be happy that this happened to us before the opening," Mentrup told SWR.

dpa