To eliminate bottlenecks along Germany’s Munich S-Bahn suburban core railway line, a second 10-kilometer, underground core line is being built. Routed underground across the city, the project presented complex construction processes requiring building large cavity cross-sections of up to 450 square meters and accommodating high building density above ground. ILF was commissioned to optimize planning and prepare detailed design, requiring an exact estimation of expected deformation to avoid building damage. Prior analytical methods lack that capability and could not predict the effects of the subsoil. Therefore, they needed state-of-the-art 3D geotechnical modeling technology.

They selected PLAXIS for finite element modeling to determine settlements at each individual construction phase and the expected deformations as a result of tunneling. Using Bentley’s application, they analyzed soil stiffness and soil-structure interaction, among other factors. The software’s detailed modeling features resulted in more realistic forecasts, enabling them to propose economical, technically optimized, environmentally friendly, and structurally safe design and construction solutions.