Barrier-free and soil-friendly: GEOTEST supports renovation of Waldburg railway stop
The project involves extending and widening the central platform, which requires the main track lines to be moved. At the same time, the superstructure and substructure, the catenary system, the drainage system, and the cable lines are being renovated over a distance of around 900 metres between Waldburg and Rehalp. This will ensure that the station complies with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act and meets current safety requirements.
The construction area along the railway tracks has been prepared.
GEOTEST has been commissioned by Forchbahn AG to provide soil science expertise for this CHF 42 million project. Our tasks include:
Soil investigations and usability assessment
Development of a soil protection concept
Soil science construction supervision
Documentation of soil-related work
The challenge: the construction work needs to take place while rail services continue to operate – partly at night and in confined spaces. In addition, the project site is located within an area with indications of chemical contamination, according to the Prüfperimeter für Bodenverschiebung (PBV) platform. Our investigations show that the topsoil is mostly weakly contaminated chemically, while a clay content of over 40% in the subsoil means that it is susceptible to compaction and hardly usable.
The work takes place in the immediate vicinity of rail traffic.
The contaminated excavated material was sampled.
The layers of the soil structure are clearly visible where the soil has been excavated.
A particularly important aspect is that the fertile soil in the surrounding area must not be impacted by the construction project. GEOTEST ensures that the soil is removed professionally and as carefully as possible, and that it is recycled as part of a soil improvement project.
Construction work is expected to continue until 2026.
Following the planning phase in 2023–2024, construction work began in autumn 2024. Completion is scheduled for 2026.
