Kirchdorfer erweitert Rahmenverträge mit ÖBB

Since autumn 2019, MABA Fertigteilindustrie GmbH has also had a corresponding framework agreement with the Austrian Federal Railways in the area of noise protection. For several station expansion projects in Lower Austria, Upper Austria and Carinthia, the ÖBB managers rely on the wood-concrete technology of the Kirchdorf Group.

Showcase project at the new railway station in Münchendorf

With a total investment of about half a billion euros, the Pottendorf line from Vienna-Meidling to Wiener Neustadt is currently being extended to two tracks. For a section of 13 km around the newly built Münchendorf station, ÖBB is relying on noise barriers from the nearby MABA parent plant in Wöllersdorf. Therefore, it was obvious that a large part of the approximately 12,500 m2 noise protection elements were delivered by rail – a logistical challenge that was only possible thanks to the good and close cooperation with the responsible ÖBB construction manager Yolanda Usart-Sanchez: “Three years of planning are necessary for such a complex construction project as Münchendorf station so that all work can run smoothly. With perfect adherence to schedules and convincing quality, MABA also made a decisive contribution to the success.”

Aesthetic challenge in Wernstein am Inn

Situated between Schärding and Passau, the community of Wernstein has long been divided in two by the railway line running through the middle of the town. Thus, the long planning phase for the double-track extension was also a double-edged affair: the residents on the hillside feared for their unobstructed view of the Inn, while the majority of the residents along the riverbank voted for the erection of noise barriers. After a complex project, the responsible project manager on the part of ÖBB Infrastruktur AG in Linz, Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Fruhmann, is highly satisfied with the result: “The extension project in Wernstein am Inn is a good example of the success of an ecologically and aesthetically sensitive challenge through attractively designed noise protection structures.”

Easy on the eyes, ears and maintenance budgets

The basis of the latest successes in railway construction is the fact that Kirchdorfer Concrete Solutions was the first supplier in Austria to obtain approval for noise protection elements or noise protection walls.

Kirchdorfer Concrete Solutions

concrete.solutions@kirchdorfer.eu l www.concrete.solutions@kirchdorfer.eu

for train speeds of up to 250 km/h. In an extensive test programme, the noise protection elements and noise protection walls were tested. In an extensive test programme, the complex aerodynamic loads of passing trains with 5 million load changes were simulated. With a service life of at least 50 years, the noise barriers made of precast concrete elements are a quantum leap compared to many wooden structures that are now gradually being replaced along the railway lines.

With their colour gradations and surface structures adapted to the course of the landscape, the Kirchdorf noise barriers are among the new eye-catchers of railway infrastructure.

The noise barrier along the newly built Münchendorf station in the course of the double-track extension of the Pottendorf line in Lower Austria is one of the showcase projects of how modern railway infrastructure is implemented functionally and aesthetically. Reprint free of charge if named: © Kirchdorfer

Installation of the noise barriers with traffic running at Münchendorf station. © Kirchdorfer

Extension of the railway line and construction of a new stop at Wernstein am Inn (Upper Austria) © Kirchdorfer