The Luxembourg Local Association visited the south portal area of the Stafelter tunnels on 19th November 2010. This is the third visit by the Association to the Autoroute du Nord, which has been under construction for some 10 years.
The Stafelter tunnels comprise two tubes of twin carriageway with cross connections and total length of each tube of 1850 metres, with a small section in cut and cover. The section is horseshoe shaped with concrete lining supported periodically and designed under NATM. The geology is rather sound with consistent Luxembourg sandstone throughout, usually requiring straightforward drill and blast methods of excavation. The previous section, the Grouff tunnel which we visited in 2007, was more complicated to construct with variable geology of sandstone and limestone. Water was not present in the Stafelter section, facilitating the construction.
The tunnels were designed by the Luxembourg firm Luxconsult in collaboration with Lombardi. The works were undertaken by a joint venture of German-Luxembourg firms led by Wayss & Freytag. The Stafelter section was started in early 2009 and the civil works should be completed by the end of 2011. After that, the equipment will be installed in a separate contract which includes also the Grouff tunnel, allowing the full Autoroute du Nord to be put into service in mid 2014.
This is an important road connection which brings traffic from the north around to link with the east-west motorway, forming in effect the north east quadrant of the Luxembourg by-pass system, and is expected to have considerable peak traffic. It has been constructed to the highest standards, taking into account the latest safety requirements brought in notably as a result of the Mont Blanc tunnel fire. This required a major re-design of the Grouff tunnel, which was then incorporated into the Stafelter design. The Autoroute du Nord appears to have been implemented at a rather sedate pace, perhaps reflecting financial and social considerations rather than the purely economic.