Project Details

Project: Karavanke Tunnel

Client: Elea iC

Location: Hrušica, Slovenia / Austria (Karavanke Alps

Nearly three decades after the Karavanke tunnel linked Slovenia and Austria, Slovenia is taking steps to start building a second tube.

A single tube, two-lane tunnel linking the towns of Jesenice in NW Slovenia and Villach in Austria opened in 1991 and quickly became one of the key transit points between the two countries. Due to increasing traffic demands, a second new tube is currently being designed to increase capacity.  The original tunnel will also be upgraded as part of the project.

Involvement

Elea iC have been awarded the detailed design scope for the Karavanke tunnel project. Skarpa have formed a valuable R&D partnership to develop a detailed digital 5D BIM model for the project. The complex NATM excavation sequences were modelled along with permanent concrete lining construction and fitout activities.

A key breakthrough on this project has been the ability to import 3D structure models from architectural software.

The ability to quickly run multiple sensitivity analysis on key features, especially the complex support regime has proven to be a valuable tool in ensuring an optimised design is achieved.