Brandleite Tunnel
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Eastern Portal: 50°41′15″N 10°45′16″E / 50.68750°N 10.75444°E
| Brandleite Tunnel | |
|---|---|
 Western portal seen from Oberhof station | |
 Interactive map of Brandleite Tunnel | |
| Overview | |
| Line | Neudietendorf–Ritschenhausen railway |
| Location | between Gehlberg and Oberhof, Thuringia |
| Coordinates | Western Portal: 50°41′5″N 10°42′42″E / 50.68472°N 10.71167°E Eastern Portal: 50°41′15″N 10°45′16″E / 50.68750°N 10.75444°E |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | 28 May 1881 |
| Opened | 1 August 1884 |
| Rebuilt | 2004/2005 |
| Operator | DB Netz |
| Technical | |
| Length | 3039 m |
| No. of tracks | double throughout |
| Track gauge | 1435 mm |
| Electrified | no |
| Tunnel clearance | 5.85 m ... 6.05 m |
| Width | 8.20 m ... 9.00 m |
Brandleite Tunnel is a single-bore, double-tracked railway tunnel between the stations of Gehlberg (598 m a.s.l.) and Oberhof (639 m a.s.l.) in Thuringia. It leads the Neudietendorf–Ritschenhausen railway beneath the Brandleite massif, a part of the ridge of the Thuringian Forest that reaches a height of 897 m a.s.l. in this area.[1] The tunnel is mostly straight, only at the Oberhof end the tracks curve slightly towards the south. With a length of 3,039 m (9,970 ft) it is the longest railway tunnel in Thuringia, and was the longest in the network of Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR. The maximum rock cover amounts to 237 m (778 ft).
Building started on 28 May 1881 in Oberhof. The tunnel was built in the so-called Belgian manner, where first a pilot tunnel is bored at floor level,[2] then widened towards the roof, the lining is started from the top and underpinned while the remainder of the cross-section is excavated. Five auxiliary shafts were sunk.[1] Hard crystalline rock[3] and water inflow caused difficulties during construction.[2] Breakthrough was achieved on 7 February 1883 with a vertical deviation of 21 cm (8.3 in) and a horizontal deviation of 25 cm (9.8 in),[1] a very good precision for that era. Stonework was finished on 19 March 1884, the tunnel was opened for traffic on 1 August 1884. Of 1380 workers employed in the construction, five died in accidents, and about 100 from disease.[1]
The roof of the tunnel was strengthenend in the 1930s.[4] Plans to dynamite the tunnel in April 1945 were reportedly stopped by the actions of Reichsbahn senior secretary Ernst Kallert (1901–1947).
The Rennsteig road tunnel which was opened on 5 July 2003 crosses above Brandleite tunnel about 350 m from its western end at a vertical distance of 5 ... 6.5 m.[4][5] The effects of its construction, in particular on the water circulation[6] and the upgrade of the railway line for tilting trains were reasons to rehabilitate the aging tunnel during 11 months in 2004/2005, taking significantly longer than the originally planned 5 months. On this occasion, the traditional tracks and trackbed were replaced by ballastless track in an asphalt bed.[7]
