Construction of the New High-Speed Railway Line Ulm–Wendlingen in Karstifed Rock

Abstract The new railway line from Wendlingen to Ulm (in Southern Germany) is currently under construction. With planned travel speeds of up to 250 km/h the slab track system will be used as track superstructure. The high-speed line is crossing the Swabian Alb, whereby on a distance of about 23 km karstified jurassic terrain is being crossed. After an overview of the project this publication provides information about general problems induced by the construction of a slab track type high-speed railway line on karstified sub-soil. Typical examples of the geophysical karst investigation program and the karst phenomena found in this project are given. Furthermore the static/cyclic FEM-calculations for the proof of relevant cavities are being displayed. The publication is completed by a presentation of particular measures which were used for the strengthening of the subsoil.