A new underwater route connects people: On June 30, the Swinetunnel was opened to traffic. Poland's longest underwater tunnel to date runs between the islands of Usedom and Wolin in the city of Świnoujście. The product and service expertise of the fastening specialist fischer made a significant contribution to the successful project completion. More than 50,000 heavy-duty fischer fasteners were installed in the tunnel.
Copyright title image: picture alliance/dpa / Stefan Sauer
fischer fastening solutions meet all requirements
„We are proud that with our fastening solutions we meet the demands and requirements during the construction of the Swinetunnel and that we could support our clients with our product and service expertise from planning through on-site support up to the successful completion of the project,“ emphasizes Oliwer Pietrzak, sales representative of fischer’s national company in Poland.
„Our involvement began with consultation and dimensioning of the most suitable fastening solutions in cooperation with the planning office. We also stood by our clients as a fastening partner during all further construction phases, provided technical advice and support on site at the construction location, and assisted in the successful implementation of all fastening tasks.“
One of Europe's longest underwater tunnels:
The crossing connects the islands of Usedom and Wollin, which are also divided between the western and eastern parts of the city of Swinoujscie (Świnoujście). At the same time, the Swine Tunnel improves the infrastructural connection of the coastal region to the mainland and the world. It makes travel easier for the many commuters between Swinoujscie and Szczecin, as well as tourists. The route relieves border traffic between Poland and Germany and opens up new prospects for economic growth and new jobs in the region.
The car journey through the tunnel including the entrance area takes only three to four minutes. This greatly increases efficiency compared to the ferry, which crosses the Swine River in 40 minutes. Especially since the crossing can be completely prevented by bad weather and required waiting times of two to four hours during the summer season.
The underwater tunnel is part of the Polish expressway S3, which connects the north with the south of Poland and runs from the western part of the city of Swinoujscie on the island of Usedom all the way to Liebau in Silesia on the Czech-Polish border.
1.8 kilometers long - 12 m diameter large main tunnel tube
The initial preparatory work for the tunnel, completed in May 2023, began in November 2019. On June 30th this year, Poland celebrated the opening of the Swine Tunnel and opened it for public traffic.
A 12 m diameter large two-lane main tunnel tube and a parallel emergency tunnel were constructed. The road tunnel extends, including the entrance sections, to just under 1.8 km in total. At up to 37.5 m below the water surface and 11 m below the riverbed, it passes under the Swine.
A TBM (tunnel boring machine) was used for excavation during the construction of the Swine Tunnel over approximately 1.5 kilometers. Additionally, the bottom-up construction method was used for the tunnel. Excavation and construction took place under a cover slab which was cast on diaphragm walls. This construction method allowed for the excavation pit to be braced and the area above the starting shafts on the islands of Usedom and Wollin to be utilized during tunnel construction.
Additionally, the fischer Superbond mortar FIS SB was installed along with system components in the Swinetunnel. The fastening system achieves very high bond stress with its silane technology for strong performance and high safety, confirmed by the ETA for concrete as well as for seismic loads.
The variable anchoring depths of the injection mortar optimize installation time and material consumption. In addition, mechanical anchoring solutions were also used in the Swinetunnel, such as the fischer bolt anchors FBN II, FBZ and FAZ II as well as the fischer concrete screws UltraCut FBS II. Significant quantities of FAZ II and UltraCut FBS II were used, for example, to install the supports for the facility supplying the TBM operation.
