Bang + smoke in Mörlenbach

Construction of the Berkersklamm Tunnel for the B38 bypass in Mörlenbach officially began on 23 January 25 with a small, symbolic blast. Two tunnels and two viaducts are to be built along the route, which is almost four kilometres long, by mid-2029.

A Catholic priest and a Protestant pastor blessed the construction of the new tunnel. Then the tunnel’s patron, Hortense Kadesch, the wife of Mörlenbach’s mayor, pressed the trigger and symbolically set off the first blast.

At the traditional tunnel-breaking ceremony , a tunnel patron acts as the earthly representative of Saint Barbara, the patron saint of miners. She , watches over the welfare of the tunnel builders on the B38 and thus also over our colleagues in civil engineering, road construction and structural engineering, who are carrying out the two tunnel projects – Berkersklamm and Kisselhöhe – together with our consortium partner HOCHTIEF.

The Berkersklamm tunnel will be 380 metres long and will run beneath the “Berkersklamm” woodland area along the B38. Completion is scheduled for 2027. By then , around 120,000 cubic metres of soil will need to be excavated and removed, and around 45,000 tonnes of concrete will need to be poured. The next phase will see the construction of the Kisselhöhe tunnel , which will be approximately 500 metres long.

We wish everyone involved every success and an accident-free construction period. Good luck!