Hand in hand for the new Te-Damm
09.05.2017
Coordinated construction above and below ground agreed.
Coordinated construction above and below ground agreed.
Seven at a stroke: Tempelhofer Damm between Platz der Luftbrücke and Borussiastraße has become too narrow for current traffic levels. The essential replacement of three old large wastewater pressure pipes has heralded a Berlin first. The road will be completely rebuilt and all the companies and authorities involved are pulling together – collectively and in the same direction. Both the cost and the time required to complete the project will therefore be reduced. Today, this was formalised contractually.
The full-scale reconstruction of the Tempelhofer Damm, which will be coordinated under the direction of Berliner Wasserbetriebe ("Berlin water company"), is due to be carried out from 2022 to 2025, precisely timed and orchestrated. A mammoth project, since above ground across a section 2.2 kilometres long and 43 metres wide, the entire area covering pavements, cycle and traffic lanes as well as green areas will be completely reconstructed to meet current requirements. Below ground, several kilometres of new drinking water, wastewater and gas pipes as well as power cables will be laid. As a precaution, the underground tunnel will also be resealed and empty conduits placed in the soil so that after the reconstruction, spades are used there just for planting trees.
To this end, Berliner Wasserbetriebe, the Vattenfall subsidiary Stromnetz Berlin GmbH, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe ("Berlin transport company"), the Gasag subsidiary NBB Netzgesellschaft Berlin-Brandenburg mbH Co. KG, Tempelhof Projekt GmbH as well as the Senate Department for Transport and the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district authority have signed a declaration of intent. In doing so, the seven partners undertake to carry out coordinated civil engineering, pipe and road construction works. In addition to the time saved during construction, the costs of reconstructing surfaces are incurred just once and can be shared among the partners. The cooperation was promoted through working together on the Baustellenatlas ("roadworks atlas"), compiled by Berlin company infrest GmbH, and should serve as a blueprint for further regeneration projects on major roads.
The construction works are due to be carried out first on one side of Tempelhofer Damm and then the other. Meanwhile, traffic will be directed, as it is currently, on one side of the road at a time, with two lanes in each direction. Berliner Wasserbetriebe are coordinating the project, as the replacement of the old wastewater pressure pipes constitutes the initial phase of the project. With an investment of around €40 million, the company is also bearing the lion's share of the cost. This means that more than 7 kilometres of pipes will be removed and reinstalled, and around 2 kilometres of pipes will be renovated.
During planning, a climate cooperation partnership with Tempelhof Projekt GmbH came into being almost incidentally: the new wastewater pressure pipes will be encased in heat exchangers which will in future provide environmentally-friendly air conditioning in the airport buildings – for heat in winter and cooling in summer.