This weekend, the Belgian railroad manager Infrabel slid a 750-ton railroad tunnel under the tracks at the station of Wezemaal, near Rotselaar in Flemish Brabant.
The concrete element, 18 meters long, 14 meters wide, and almost 4 meters high, was placed under the tracks via a special metal chute. The tunnel should provide a better mobility shift and increase traffic safety.
Technical tour de force
In the Wezemaal station area, Infrabel is replacing the current level crossing in Langestraat with a new road tunnel. Parallel to the tracks, there will also be a bicycle bridge for the F25 bicycle highway.
But the installation of this new tunnel under the tracks was a technical tour de force. Once the excavation work was finished, sliding rails were installed, and, with the help of hydraulic jacks, the 750-ton tunnel was moved to its final position via these metal slides.
Investment of €11.5 million
In the middle of the tunnel, lanes for motorized road traffic will be provided along both sides, while elevated bicycle lanes 1.75 wide will be provided. On the station side, a pedestrian path will also be used as an underpass to connect the two platforms, which will be reconstructed, raised, and fitted with a canopy.
There will also be new covered bicycle racks with camera surveillance on both sides of the tracks.
Due to these works and today’s strike action, train traffic between Aarschot and Leuven is interrupted until tonight. Replacement buses have been provided. The total investment in the project is about 11.5 million euros.
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