Two HB 2500 and one HB 2200 Atlas Copco hydraulic breakers, and two Atlas Copco CC 3300 hydraulic combi cutters are being used to complete construction on the Leipzig City Tunnel, which will provide a north-south link through the city of Leipzig, Germany.

As many as five Atlas Copco attachments are currently in use in the construction of the Leipzig City Tunnel in Leipzig, Germany. Once completed, the tunnel will provide the north-south link through the city. Below the Leipzig Market Square in the Bayerischer Bahnhof station and below the central station, auxiliary structures set up for the tunnelling operation are being demolished.

Four new stations will link the city to the surrounding countryside and the road and bus network. New stops are created at the Bayerischer Bahnhof, Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz, the Market Square providing access to shopping facilities, university and places of cultural interest, as well as in the central station.

Among other challenges, the contractors Kafril GmbH from Großzschepa, Germany, had to remove the auxiliary structures under the Leipzig Market Square as soon as the tunnelling job was completed. The company used three Atlas Copco hydraulic breakers, two HB 2500 and one HB 2200. Twenty meters below the surface the western section of more than 4,000 square meters of rebar concrete was demolished. These structures were temporarily erected as the station’s entrance and exit for the tunnelling machine. Another two Atlas Copco CC 3300 hydraulic combi cutters were used to crush the concrete and rebar in one go.

Under the Leipzig central station similar demolition work is in progress. In the Bayerischer Bahnhof station nearly 1,500 square meters of concrete needed to make the working floor and access roads for the tunnelling machine still have to be demolished.

Completion of the tunnel is expected in 2012.

Atlas Copco offers products and services that range from compressed air and gas equipment, generators, construction and mining equipment, industrial tools and assembly systems, to related aftermarket and rental. It is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

Atlas Copco Construction Tools is a division of the Construction and Mining Technique business area. The company is a leading supplier of hydraulic, pneumatic and petrol-driven breakers and drills and of hydraulic breakers and silent demolition tools attached to carrier units.