News

Within the scope of work for the new twin-track Feeder Line North of the Brenner Base Tunnel, DB Netz AG has commis­sioned ILF Consulting Engineers, as part of an engineering consortium with two other partners, to carry out the route design and project planning works for the preli­minary design of the Grafing–Ostermünchen (GER) section.

This section forms part of the Feeder Line North of the Brenner Base Tunnel which is currently under construction, and will be an integral part of the Scandinavian–Mediterrranean Corridor (Scan–Med Corridor) from Finland to Malta. This corridor is also the most important North–South Railway Link in Europe. The approx. 15-km-long section comprises the northernmost part of this project. In addition to open-track sections, associated traffic infra­st­ructure, bridges and tunnels are also planned.

The Building Infor­mation Modelling (BIM) method is being used during the design which also includes an option for further design phases (conceptual design, permit appli­cation design and tender design).

Having already been involved in the previous design phase for this section (namely the route selection procedure), ILF has detailed knowledge of the local site condi­tions and can therefore support this complex project in the further design phases.

With less than 100 m³ of renewable water resources per capita and per year, Jordan is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world.
The existing water resources are already heavily overex­ploited and are rapidly being depleted as a result of supplying a growing population. The water sector in Jordan is charac­te­rized by high water losses and low cost coverage.

To tackle the challenges associated with water supply in Jordan, the Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) has commis­sioned a joint venture, consisting of ILF and Engicon, with the project “Energy Efficiency in the Water Sector II in Jordan”. The focus of this project is on reducing the amount of non-revenue water, such as leakages or illegal connec­tions, as well as reducing the carbon footprint of the water sector in general.

A multi-pronged approach has been chosen to make every drop count. Five selected pumping stations will be rehabi­li­tated, mainly by replacing ineffi­cient equipment such as pumps, fittings and valves. To ensure a more sustainable operation of the water network, an additional booster pumping station will be constructed. Furthermore, the water network itself will undergo several changes in order to make the best use of the mountainous terrain.

Measures which increase energy efficiency in the water sector are both environ­mentally and econo­mi­cally beneficial for all parties involved.

The rehabi­li­tation of the pumping stations and the restruc­turing of the water supply network are projected to save more than 9,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions annually.

Energy demand can be lowered by appro­xi­mately 50%, and, in addition, up to 20% of physical water losses are expected to be eliminated.

Phase 1 of the construction works has recently started and is expected to be completed in 2025. Phase 2 is currently out to tender.

ILF has won the contract for project management, develo­pment and design, including management of all environ­mental issues, for the Linz Urban Railway, Austria.

The metro­po­litan area of Linz (in the province of Upper Austria) has a number of hospitals, univer­sities, cultural and adminis­trative facilities and offers more jobs than there are inhabi­tants (> 200,000). As a result, Linz has been struggling with commuter traffic for a long time.

A high-quality alter­native to private transport is therefore needed and a new public transport solution is being developed. The key objec­tives are to provide high-quality transport for passengers, fast travel times, direct connec­tions to high-level insti­tu­tions and links to the existing infra­st­ructure: the Linz Urban Railway.

ILF was commis­sioned by Schiene OÖ GmbH, together with a local partner in Linz, to prepare the documents for the preli­minary design of all the technical and environ­mental aspects and to clarify the necessary legal procee­dings for all sections of the Linz Urban Railway. Planning for the approval procedure and the environ­mental impact assessment for the urban railway’s connection to the university is an optional part of the contract.

NZSki, one of New Zealand’s ski field operators, plans to increase the capacity of its ski area ”The Remar­kables” near Queenstown from its current capacity of approx. 3,500 skiers to a future capacity of approx. 7,500 skiers. For the proposed plans to become reality, the neigh­boring bowl, the Doolans Basin, shall be developed into a ski area. To achieve this, various options will be inves­ti­gated in a masterplan and a develo­pment strategy will subse­quently be formulated.

ILF Consulting Engineers has been entrusted with preparing this masterplan which covers slopes, ropeways, snow-making systems, ski tunnels, parking facilities, mountain restau­rants, maintenance and service infra­st­ructure as well as connec­tions to the existing ski area. The masterplan will also encompass all the construction measures required to operate the ski resort following the increase in capacity.

ILF Consulting Engineers has set another histo­rical milestone in its 50+ years of engineering excel­lence. We are extremely proud to have been appointed as the consultant of choice for the pre-develo­pment studies for three multi-gigawatt solar PV parks. These parks, with an installed capacity of up to 30 GWp, will by far be the world’s largest renewable energy parks in terms of installed capacity.

ILF will provide world-class engineering services, accom­panying the parks’ develo­pment up to the point where the parks can be tendered on an independent power producer (IPP) basis.

The pre-develo­pment studies shall include perfor­mance of the following tasks:

• a preli­minary site assessment
• prepa­ration of a master plan
• environ­mental baseline surveys
• an environ­mental and social impact assessment (ESIA)
• the permit appli­cation procedure
• various studies, including geotech­nical, hydro­lo­gical, glint/glare and corrosion studies
• an energy yield assessment
• technology selection
• CAPEX/OPEX estimation
• advanced design of the parks

The parks are among the most ambitious and presti­gious develo­p­ments taking place in the world in terms of sustaina­bility, innovation and cutting edge technology, and are a key puzzle piece in Saudi Arabia’s strategy to become a world champion in renewable energy by 2030. This fits perfectly with the ILF Group’s commitment to climate protection and its vision of improving the quality of life around the globe.

Digita­liz­ation poses new challenges to be faced in road tunnels – challenges which require inter­di­sci­plinary action.

Coordi­nated by the Federal Highway Research Institute (“Bundes­an­stalt für Straßen­wesen” GER) and ILF, the bilateral research project Artificial Intel­li­gence for Impro­vement of Safety of Tunnels and Tunnel Control Centers (“KITT”) is developing innovative solutions. By using data from Coope­rative Intel­ligent Transport Systems (C‑ITS) as well as Artificial Intel­li­gence (AI), hazardous situa­tions in tunnels, or anomalies in IT security, can be recognized more quickly and reliably.

ILF is proud to be able to apply its extensive experience of performing risk analyses in road tunnels and its own (self-developed) tunnel risk model TuRisMo to improve existing methods by using C‑ITS technology.
The research project is being funded by the Security Research Funding Program (“KIRAS”) set up by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism (“BMLRT”) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (“BMBF”) as part of the call for Artificial Intel­li­gence in Civil Security Research (“Künst­liche Intel­ligenz in der zivilen Sicherheitsforschung”).

As part of a joint venture (JV), ILF has been awarded the contract for the prepa­ration of tender documents for the Eastern Section of the 2nd S‑Bahn Main Line in Munich.

This section of the line comprises approx. 3.4 km of tunnels, one under­ground halt and several civil engineering struc­tures. ILF has also been involved in the design of the Western Section of the line since 2017. As part of different JVs, ILF was commis­sioned with the final design and the permit appli­cation design services for the overall project, the prepa­ration of tender documents and construction design services for two under­ground halts.

The overall project, with a line length of approx. 10 km, contains a tunnel section with a length of approx. 7 km and three under­ground halts (with lengths between 230 m and 250 m, and a depth of approx. 45 m). The tunnels – two tunnels and one emergency tunnel – will be driven mainly by TBMs. The under­ground halts are being constructed using the cut-and-cover method, and for the platform tunnels, the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) is being used.

The Deutsche Bahn has taken the decision to extend the under­ground section of the line under the city center (by adding a new line beneath the existing one) because the S‑Bahn Main Line in Munich was no longer able to handle today’s passenger numbers.

ILF is pleased to be able to present the design for the tunnel portals with the widest span in the company’s more than 55-year history.
As the leading partner of a planning consortium, ILF, on behalf of ASFINAG, has been working on the detailed design for the tunnel struc­tures within phase 1 of the A26 motorway construction project near Linz.

The motorway tunnel constructed in phase 1 of the project has four lanes in some sections and a total length of 2.4 km, including access and exit ramps. The two main portals of the tunnel deserve special attention: The portals of the two main carri­a­geways, which shall directly adjoin the fourth Danube bridge on both sides, span a width of about 25 m and have a shotcrete thickness of only 60 cm. The operating rooms are located directly below these main portals.

Overcoming the challenge of designing and finally realizing tunnel portals of these dimen­sions has only been possible thanks to ILF’s partnership with ASFINAG and the joint venture ARGE A26 that is respon­sible for executing the project.

Thank you for the excellent cooperation!

ILF has been commis­sioned as part of an engineering consortium (INGE Axe Bauleitung) for the construction super­vision for the new Axenstrasse road project. The project is expected to run until the end of 2033.

The Axenstrasse road was built between 1861 and 1865 and is located in Central Switz­erland. The road has been damaged several times by rockfalls and mudslides, which is why a new Axenstrasse road is now being built.

ILF has commenced its construction super­vision work at the Gumpisch temporary bridge. The temporary bridge will be constructed in an area sensitive to rockfalls and will allow traffic to be diverted from the Axenstrasse road thus facili­tating further construction works. Construction of both the major tunnel construction lots is due to start in 2025. The construction site from Ingenbohl to Gumpisch stretches over a length of approx. 8 km. In the tunnel-driving phase, up to six tunnel drives (main and counter drives) are to be super­vised in parallel. Also in the construction phase for the entire project, several construction sites for lining works are to be super­vised in parallel.

In order to deal with the natural hazards posing a threat to the availa­bility of the Axenstrasse road, an early warning system has been intro­duced and contri­butes to greater safety during construction works. Work on the Gumpisch temporary bridge is taking place whilst there is ongoing traffic on the Axenstrasse road. Thanks to the good coope­ration with the road operator AfBN, the client and the security firm that are helping to control the adjacent traffic, the work and traffic have to date been accident-free.

The Baltic Pipe has recently started trans­porting gas to markets in Denmark, Sweden and Poland, as well as to neigh­boring markets. ILF is proud to have contri­buted to the timely start of operation for this unusually complex construction project.

The inter­con­nector between Poland and Denmark can transport gas in both direc­tions, which not only opens up a new supply route for the transport of natural gas from the Norwegian sea, but also leads to a diver­si­fi­cation of gas supply sources for many countries in the Baltic Sea region and in Central and Eastern Europe. Around 2.4 bn m³ of gas are expected to be trans­ported by the Baltic Pipe per year over the next ten years.

ILF has supported the clients, Energienet and Ramboll, with numerous engineering services for the Jutland–Funen section. These included, among others, project management, Owner’s Engineering services, detailed design/construction design, tendering and construction supervision.

Learn more here:   The project — Baltic Pipe Project (baltic-pipe.eu)

ILF and PGNiG Termika S.A. have signed a contract for the prepa­ration of a feasi­bility study for the creation of an electrical connection between the Siekierki CHP plant and the Piaseczno–Mory trans­mission line in Poland.

The study shall inves­tigate the feasi­bility of constructing a new 220 kV double-circuit line running from a new 220 kV switchyard to a cut in the 220 kV Piaseczno–Mory line, as well as a line to connect a new gas/steam unit to this switchyard. As part of the study, three different switchyard location options and several variants shall be presented. ILF will also give a recom­men­dation on the optimal solution, taking all relevant planning, techno­lo­gical, social and environ­mental aspects into consideration.

“We always consider the impact on local residents and the environment in our work. We are focused on minimizing the impact on housing develo­p­ments and valuable natural areas. In terms of planning for the timing and the amount of investment required in this project, we aim to make good use of existing infra­st­ructure corridors from other trans­mission line facilities, and will consider different techno­lo­gical options – namely overhead lines and cable lines, as well as an option combining these two technologies.”
Rafal Blankiewicz, Managing Director of ILF Poland.

Providing efficient solutions for using existing snow-making infra­st­ructure to additio­nally produce and store energy is also part of ILF’s portfolio – and exactly this is what has been done during one of our projects in the Kitzsteinhorn ski area (AUT).

The Gletscher­bahnen Kaprun AG, with ILF’s help, has been relying on sustainable energy for years. In addition to the photo­voltaic systems on opera­tions buildings in the Kitzsteinhorn ski area, the Grubbach small-scale power plant also produces its own power from meltwater. The first construction stage of this combined pumped storage and hydroelectric power plant, with two turbines, was put into operation in 2012 – and a third turbine has recently been added to provide electricity in summer and snow in winter.
The special feature of this autonomous power production is that when the lever is moved in autumn, water is pumped through the pipes from the large high-altitude reser­voirs „Mooser­boden” and „Wasser­fall­boden” directly into the snow-making systems in the Kitzsteinhorn ski area. This means that no additional storage reser­voirs need to be created for snowmaking in the high alpine part of the Kitzsteinhorn ski area.
In spring, on the other hand, the meltwater from a large catchment area is collected in the Langwied catch basin and conti­nuously fed, via a 2‑km-long pipeline and over 460 m in altitude, to the power plant. Here, three turbines convert 300 L of water per second into electricity, which generates 1.2 million kWh of green electricity in a regular year. This amount corre­sponds to the annual electricity consumption of approx. 350 households.

How does a pumped storage plant work?
A PSP temporarily stores surplus energy in the form of potential energy (elevation potential energy) in a reservoir. The water is pumped into the storage reservoir by electri­cally driven pumps so that it can later be used to drive the turbines and generate electricity. Surplus electrical energy from the power grid is taken during periods of low demand and fed back into the grid at peak load. Essen­tially, there is a lower and upper basin between which water is moved up and down – the lower basin can either be an artificial storage reservoir, a natural lake or a water­course. In the simplest case, electricity is either generated by operating the pumps in reverse (turbine mode) or by using separate turbines, for which a wide variety of designs and sizes come into question depending on the operating conditions.

Swissgrid has commis­sioned ILF, as part of the engineering consortium KiWa220 (@Suisseplan Bau, @Boess Gruppe), to plan and design the extension of the high-voltage line in the Zurich South area. In order to increase the security of electricity supply to the city of Zurich (CH) and the left side of Lake Zurich, the current line will be upgraded to 220 kilovolts (kV) and connected to the grid in the South.

In the first project section, the cable will be laid under­ground along the motorway. Subse­quently, the cable will be pulled through the conduit blocks already in place in both tubes of the Uetliberg Tunnel. In the third project section, a new 2‑km-long energy tunnel, with a diameter of approx. 4 m, will be driven using a tunnel boring machine.

ILF has been chosen by the Canadian Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association (CHFCA), on behalf of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), to conduct a survey and develop an evergreen database of existing and planned hydrogen production facilities in Canada, including those currently under construction.

Together with the CHFCA, our team developed a compre­hensive survey that was distri­buted to companies with existing and planned hydrogen production facilities in Canada. The questi­onnaire gathered infor­mation amongst others about hydrogen production, distri­bution systems, technology and carbon capture, utiliz­ation and storage (CCUS); all of which was then entered into the database.

Visit the CHFCA’s website to explore the database: https://www.chfca.ca/canadian-hydrogen-production-evergreen-database/.

One of ILF’s long-term projects – the Metro Warsaw project – has taken a great step forward: We are proud to announce that the conceptual design for the new M3 metro line in Warsaw is complete.

In this key project for the residents of the Polish capital, ILF is respon­sible for the pre-design works, including the conceptual design, deter­mi­nation of the impact zones of the metro facilities on adjacent buildings, and the hydro­geo­lo­gical and engineering-geolo­gical documen­tation. In addition, ILF has prepared the functional and user program as well as the technical speci­fi­ca­tions for the execution and approval of works.

The building permit for the Karolin Station on the M2 metro line – another project in which ILF is one of the key players – has also recently been received and the stations Ulrychów und Bemowo have since been opened.

To transmit wind power from the windy North to the South, SuedLink, a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) trans­mission line consisting of multiple under­ground cables, is to be built in Germany.
The SuedLink is approx. 700 km long and will be imple­mented by the two project developers Trans­netBW GmbH and TenneT TSO GmbH, with two 2 GW connec­tions each starting in Schleswig-Holstein and running via Baden-Württemberg to Bavaria.

The project developer Trans­netBW GmbH has submitted the first permit appli­cation documents for the southernmost permit appli­cation section, E3, to the Federal Network Agency. ILF, as the regional engineering office, has assisted with the prepa­ration of these documents. The Federal Network Agency has already confirmed the comple­teness of the documents and the process of making the documents available for public review has been initiated.

What’s special about permit appli­cation section E3 is that this section of the trans­mission line runs through the Südwest­deutsche Salzwerke AG’s mines. The special structure in the mines will be connected via two new shafts, which will be almost 200 m deep. With the initiation of the final phase of the approval procedure, the founda­tions for an early start to construction of the SuedLink in the Heilbronn region have now been laid.

In the North, ILF, as the respon­sible regional engineering office, has also contri­buted to the permit appli­cation documents for permit appli­cation section A2 – the first northern section of the trans­mission line – being submitted to the Federal Network Agency in due time by the project developer TenneT TSO GmbH. The parti­cular challenge in this section was to integrate the requested alignment for the two under­ground cables into the design documents for the special structure ElbX, an approx. 5‑km-long tunnel structure between Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony that runs under the River Elbe.

The Municipal Water and Sewerage Company commis­sioned ILF to prepare compre­hensive design documen­tation for the final stage of the construction of the Vistula collector In Warsaw.

This largest transit and retention collector in Poland’s capital is expected to mitigate the negative effects of climate change on the city. Besides trans­porting waste­water, the new infra­st­ructure facility will also temporarily store excess rainwater and therefore decrease the risk of flooding and reduce storm overflows into the Vistula river. The existing storm sewers as well as the sewer collectors to the Farysa facility and the pressure pipe from the Powiśle pumping station will be connected to the new collector. The collector, with a capacity of 50,000 m³ and base diameters from 1.2 m to 3.2 m, will be about 9.5 km long and will be constructed at a depth of 6 to 15 m below ground. For the construction of the collector, state-of-the-art trenchless micro­tun­neling technology will be applied.

“ILF’s task is to prepare compre­hensive design documen­tation for the third stage of construction of the Vistula collector – speci­fi­cally, from the connection chamber with the Bielański collector to the Farysa facility, along with the pumping station and the necessary̨ associated infra­st­ructure,” explains Marcin Przepiórka, Managing Director from ILF Poland.

The investment is part of a broader project co-financed by EU funds and imple­mented by the Municipal Water and Sewerage Company in Warsaw. Completion of the project documen­tation (construction design and detailed designs) is scheduled for late 2022.

ILF is involved in the construction of the largest wind farm in the Polish waters of the Baltic Sea – OWF Baltica 2 and OWF Baltica 3. The project is carried out by PGE Baltica together with Ørsted under the Offshore Program.

The Baltica‑2 OWF will have a capacity of up to 1,498 MW; the Baltica 3 OWF a capacity of up to 1,045 MW. The works are going on and the planned start of green energy production is 2026 (Baltica 3) and 2027 (Baltica 2). The lifetime of the wind farm is expected to be around 30 years.

ILF is respon­sible, among others, for the feasi­bility study, building permit design and obtaining a building permit for the Baltica 3 and Baltica 2 Offshore Wind Farms grid connections.

As part of an energy research project, ILF has carried out a specific technical, economic and ecolo­gical evaluation of an innovative EDCSproof energy concept for Wiesbauer, an Austrian sausage producer. EDCSproof stands for “Energy Demand Control System – Process Optimiz­ation For indus­trial low-tempe­rature systems” and is a colla­bo­rative research project led by the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and involving eight scien­tific and indus­trial partners.

The primary goal is to develop an online control concept for indus­trial energy supply systems. This concept shall support the integration of renewables through the use of energy storage, create “flexible consumers” for electric grids, increase efficiency through optimal control of the overall system, and utilize waste heat by using high-tempe­rature heat pumps (<150°C). Hence, it is a concept for decar­bo­niz­ation which recognizes the possi­bi­lities of digitalization.

The evaluation carried out by ILF included an investment calcu­lation based on possible instal­lation locations and the integration of the respective components in the power supply system taking into account the route of the existing piping, spatial condi­tions and other project parameters. ILF compared the EDCSproof energy concept with Wiesbauer’s existing energy concept (CO₂ savings, reduction of primary energy factor, cost reduction, etc.) and detected an energy and production cost saving potential.

Please see our White Paper for more details, contact persons and additional infor­mation about energy efficiency (only available in German): https://www.ilf.com/de/whitepaper-eeff/

As part of the ongoing Vestfold­banen railway upgrade scheme, the state-owned Norwegian railway infra­st­ructure company Bane NOR is constructing 10 km of new double-track railway between Drammen and Kobbervikdalen.

In 2018, ILF was hired by the Norwegian contractor Veidekke Entre­prenør AS as the designer of the most techni­cally challenging section of this project: a 290 m long tunnel mined in difficult geology below the ground­water table – the Soil Tunnel. ILF prepared the tender design, supported Veidekke during the Compe­titive Dialogue compe­tition, and developed the conceptual design as well as the detailed design of the soil tunnel. This includes a BIM model that is integrated into a combined model of all of the works within the contract.
ILF staff from our offices in Austria and Norway attended the breakthrough ceremony for the Soil tunnel top heading together with more than 200 other guests.

ILF is proud to be part of such a remar­kable and presti­gious project.