K20 in Hamburg Opened for Traffic

An important milestone for Hamburg’s transport infrastructure: On Saturday, the elevated road Elbmarsch (K20), part of motorway A7, has been opened for traffic. The around 3.8-km-long road between Elbe Tunnel and junction Hamburg-Hausbruch has been expanded from six to eight lanes and renovated at the same time.

The expansion of the existing structure was particularly challenging. The elevated road wasn’t replaced by a new structure but rather expanded to eight lanes on the basis of the old structure. This was made possible by the foresighted design from the 1960s and 70s: Already at the time, the original structure included a future expansion.

A central aspect of the design was to continue traffic flow during construction works, with three lanes per direction being available for that.

Contracted by the developer, SSF Ingenieure participated at the design of superstructures and substructures. Bearing forces of the existing superstructures were analysed to determine which bearings had to be replaced. For the expansion structure, a steel composite construction, SSF produced the structural analysis in the framework of approval design and supported the entire planning phase. Additionally, we worked on the structural analysis for the reinforcement of cross girders. For the substructures, SSF produced the final design of the mega columns.

Participants at the official traffic opening ceremony were among others Dr. Michael Güntner, chairman of the board at Autobahn GmbH, Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Irngartinger, managing director of DEGES, Federal Minister of Transport Steffen Bilger, and as a lecturer Dr. Anjes Tjarks, Senator at the Authority for Transport and Mobility Transition of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

The completion now provides this important traffic link in Hamburg’s port area with eight lanes. The expansion increases capacities of motorway A7 on a highly frequented section between Elbe Tunnel and Hamburg’s south.