Reference · case study
Tunneling & infrastructure

Schedule saved and the site under control from the home office

The Koralm Tunnel is one of the largest and most complex tunneling projects in Europe. When the works had already drifted well off schedule and threatened to slip further because of the pandemic, our digital platform came into play — and with it the schedule could be held and the site coordinated even from the home office.

Commissioned by
Rhomberg Sersa
Project
Koralm Tunnel
Period
2020 – 2025
Service
Construction Management
2.3bn €
total project volume
270m €
of which we actively coordinated
32.9 km
currently the longest railway tunnel in operation in Austria
±0 days of delay
no further schedule slippage after the platform was introduced
100 % remote
the site could be coordinated from the home office too
01Starting point

The challenge

The Koralm Tunnel is an exceptionally large and complex tunneling project with a great many trades involved and construction sections running in parallel. By the time we came on board, the works had already drifted well off schedule. The coronavirus pandemic made things worse: presence on site was restricted and completion threatened to slip further and further.

The situation
  • A very large, highly complex tunneling project with many trades
  • The construction process had already drifted well off schedule
  • Pandemic restrictions on being present on site
  • A growing risk of further, cumulative delays
  • No central overview of progress that everyone could see
02Approach

How we went about it

We set up an individual digital platform for the project that brings trade planning, calendar, analyses and a georeferenced overview map onto one shared, continuously updated set of data. Everyone involved works in one place — whether they access it on site or remotely. That makes the entire construction operation transparent and centrally coordinable.

The platform solution
  • An individual platform instead of off-the-shelf software
  • Trade planning, calendar, analysis and map on one set of data
  • Georeferenced real-time overview of vehicles, equipment and areas
  • Shared access for everyone involved in the project
  • Location-independent coordination — in the site office and from home
03Outcome

The outcome

With the digital platform the schedule could be held — further slippage was stopped. Because the site could also be coordinated from the home office through the platform, the project stayed fully operational even under pandemic conditions. Deviations became visible early, and decisions could be taken faster and on a reliable basis of data.

Value for Rhomberg Sersa
  • Schedule held — no further slippage
  • The site remained coordinable from the home office throughout
  • Early visibility of deviations in the construction process
  • Faster decisions on a shared basis of data
  • The ability to act preserved even under pandemic conditions
Analyses in the platform: charts on work registrations, compliance rate, milestones and reasons for delay
Challenge & effect

Where construction stalled and how the platform held its ground

A highly complex tunnel project, safety-critical operations inside the tube and pandemic restrictions: the digital platform addressed every one of these and kept construction coordinable.

Starting point
Answer on the platform
High complexity

Many trades, parallel construction sections and data scattered across different systems made coordination hard. Without a central overview it was difficult to steer where deviations were building up.

Platform

Trade planning, calendar, analyses and the overview map come together on one shared, continuously updated set of data.

Safety in the tunnel

Many trades work at the same time in the confined space of the tube, with vehicles and equipment moving between them. Who is where and which areas are closed is hard to keep track of without an up-to-date picture.

Platform

The georeferenced real-time overview locates personnel and equipment and shows vehicles, equipment and closed areas along the alignment. Access routes and working zones can be coordinated with each other instead of conflicts only being noticed on site.

The coronavirus pandemic

Presence on site was restricted, coordination of the works was at risk of breaking down and the project of slipping further.

Platform

The digital platform made it possible to coordinate the site entirely from the home office. The project stayed fully operational throughout.

From practice
Ralf Sommer, former Head of Digital Rail Services at Rhomberg Sersa Bahntechnik GmbH

“Virtual construction process planning is the missing key to implementing a complete digital workflow across a company. The gaming industry knows how to plan virtual processes intuitively in changing environments and make them comprehensible to everyone through graphics.”

Ralf Sommer
Former Head of Digital Rail Services · Rhomberg Sersa Bahntechnik GmbH
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