Strabag awarded record Austrian construction contract

Strabag’s EUR 570M (USD 775.9M) Koralm Tunnel contract became the largest construction contract in Austrian history, when awarded last month.

It requires the construction of a 32.5km tunnel as part of the anticipated Koralmbahn rail link between Graz and Klagenfurt in the southern Austrian regions of Styria and Carinthia.

The tunnel will consist of two parallel, single-track bores, each 20km in length. The anticipated 8.5Mt of muck will be used to produce 1Mm³ of concrete, which will then line the inside of the tunnel.

Excavation will be undertaken with the New Austrian Tunnelling Method for the first 2.5km and with two 9.9m TBMs for the remainder. Access to the site is restricted to a single 60m shaft near Deutschlandsberg.

Work will begin early in 2011 and finish by late 2018.