ElbX: Excavation pit for the target shaft is ready – Elsa can come
Wewelsfleth, / Special civil engineering
A decisive step has been taken on the Lower Saxony side of the Elbe: following completion of the technically demanding diaphragm wall work in February 2025, the PORR Spezialtiefbau team has now reached another important milestone with the completion of the target excavation pit.
The target excavation pit in Wischhafen is ready; this is where the Elsa tunnel boring machine will arrive.
ElbX is a central component of the approximately 700-kilometre-long SuedLink underground cable connection, which will transport renewable energy from Brunsbüttel and Wilster to Großgartach and Bergrheinfeld from 2028 onwards. The ARGE Tunnel ElbX consortium, consisting of PORR GmbH & Co. KGaA and Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau AG, is building a 5.2-kilometre-long tunnel at a depth of around 20 metres on behalf of TenneT. Six 525-kV direct current cables will run through it to transport wind energy from northern to southern Germany.
The main excavation pit for the shaft building in Wischhafen has been completely excavated and drained. The stiffening layers for the shoring have been installed and the lowest layer has already been removed after the base was constructed by the civil engineering team – a crucial step for the subsequent installation of the Elsa tunnel boring machine.
In the smaller excavation pit for the sleeve building, the underwater concrete base has also been completed and secured against buoyancy with micro piles. All that remains here is the dewatering.
Elsa is getting closer
With this progress, the target excavation pit is ready for the arrival of the Elsa tunnel boring machine. The tunnel breakthrough is planned for mid-2026.
ElbX is therefore on schedule – an important contribution to SuedLink, which will transport its first electricity in 2028.
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